Falling Through Fanfiction
by The Wicked Witch of Cupcakes
Summary: What would happen if a sassy, independent, clumsy, not afraid to speak her mind feminist who has a strange case of amnesia ended up as the main character in the most popular fandom stories? Includes the Outsiders, Mortal Instruments, Gossip Girl, Narnia, Phantom of the Opera, Maximum Ride, Warriors, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Percy Jackson, Twilight, and Harry Potter.
1. Chapter 1

I just wanted a break. That's all I ever asked for. All my teachers had decided to pile on the homework this weekend, so I was getting it done. Well, some of it anyway. I was just taking a short little two hour break surfing the net and eventually found myself (as always) reading fanfiction.

I'm skimming through _The Outsiders_ fanfiction, trying to convince myself that it counted as studying because we're reading it in class. I'm not finding any interesting stories today, so I just sit there staring at the screen. I can't even bring myself to sigh, I'm so bored. I play with my average brown hair as my eyes slowly make their way down to my key board. My fingers brush over the ancient keys. I had bought the laptop from some weird thrift shop place, but it was all I could afford. My parents have this whole "If you buy it you'll care more about it and you'll have learned a life lesson" philosophy, so I'm stuck with this old dinosaur.

I notice one key that seems to have no function. I try to figure out what it does, but to no avail. _I know,_ _I'll just press it. _And I do.

Immediately my world falls away from beneath me, but I'm too surprised to scream. I feel my hair flailing against my face and my arms try to grab hold of something, _anything._ And then as soon as it happened, it's over.

I'm sitting in a different room. The pink walls and brown carpet are most definitely not mine. I'm sitting at a desk staring into a mirror. I'm wearing a dress that looks like it belongs in the movie _Grease. _I look at the pictures on the desk, and they're all of someone with red hair smiling in different scenarios with different people. _Where I am?_ I think.

That's when I notice the name across the top of the mirror in sparkles, _Cherry Valance. _I stare at it for a few moments as a look of confusion and horror appears on my face. _That's impossible. _Cherry Valance, from _The Outsiders_.

I turn around as a middle aged woman opens the door and smiles sweetly. "Cherryberry, Bobby's here to pick you up." I just stare at her. My hand slowly comes up to point at my chest in a manner of asking _me?_ She looks at me confused. "Yes dear. Aren't you two going out with Marcia and her boyfriend?"

There's an awkward pause as I begin to nod my head. "Yes. Of Course. Let me just, um, grab my bag." _I guess I'll just play along with this weird hallucination. _

The boy sitting in the car perfectly matches the description of Bob from the book. There's also another girl whom I assume is Marcia sitting in the back with another guy. "Hey Cherry, ready to ride?" I slowly sit down into the shotgun seat. "Yeah…"

"Hey are you feeling alright Cherry?" The Marcia girl asks.

"What? Oh yeah. I'm just fine. Absolutely peachy." I reply, dropping a bit of sarcasm in.

"Spanking. Let's go then." Bob says as he drives off. We arrive at the movies, and suddenly I think I know where in the book we are. My suspicions are confirmed as Bob pulls out a pack of beer. We're at the part in the story where Cherry and Marcia leave their boyfriends because they've been drinking. Then we go to the sitting area and run into Ponyboy. I already decided to go with the "playing along with it" thing, so I just let him and the other guy drink and drink until they've finished the pack of beer and are still going.

By now they're really drunk and slurring, and stumbling all over the place like idiots. _Remind me again, why does Cherry date this guy? _Ok. I think they're drunk enough for me to make a stand now.

"Bob. That is IT. I told you I can't stand it when you drink but clearly my feelings mean nothing to you. You have a serious alcoholic problem, and if you continue on the path you're going, you're going to die an early death. Alcohol rots your liver and shrinks your brain. You also have an increase chance of heart attacks. Do you really want to do that to yourself? I would think not. And for what? To get a little loopy? Your tolerance rate is probably very high, but one day you're going to drink too much and pass out, and you're never going to wake up again… But I won't be there to mourn you."

And I turn and start walking away, with all of them staring in shock at me. Maybe I got a little carried away. _WAIT A MINUTE! _I run back, grab Marcia by her arm, flip my hair over my shoulder defiantly, and try to walk coolly away. Unfortunately it's lost some of its effect.

Marcia is just staring at me too shocked to say anything. Finally she musters "What was that?" I look at her a moment trying to figure out what to say, then finally just settle with "The Truth." Wow, I'm really proud of myself that was so artsy.

So we arrive at the seating area of the drive in movie. Almost no one is sitting here, probably because it's a _drive in _movie theater, but that's alright because I have a really easy time picking out Dallas, Johnny, and Ponyboy. Marcia seems reluctant when I start walking towards them, especially when the rest of the seats are empty, but I'm trying really hard to follow the plot line.

Before we even sit down Dallas starts making rude comments at us. I'm trying so hard not to punch him in the face, because that would be going against the plot. Then I realize I have no idea what Cherry says to him. Maybe I'll just punch him in the face anyway. _No, focus. _So I turn around at stare at Dallas in the eyes.

"You sexist pig. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners? Clearly not. If I wasn't in a public movie theater I would smack you in the nose right now. You really are a greaser. When you follow stereotypes because you feel there's nothing else you can do but live up to your expectations, then you're not doing anyone any favors! Maybe if you decided to try hard in school and go to college, I don't know, maybe _get a job_, you'd be proving everyone else wrong and break the CHAIN! But instead you're weak and afraid so you just live with what you were given, which isn't much." There an awkward silence as everyone in the movie theater is staring at us.

"Oh, and umm, get lost." I silently sit back down at stare forward at the screen. _You messed it up again, way to go. _I hear Dallas walk away. I think maybe I scared him a little too much.

I turn around to Johnny and Ponyboy. "You gonna start in on us now too?" They both quickly shake their heads in terror. What does Cherry say next? "You don't look the type…um…what's your name?"

"Ponyboy Curtis" Ponyboy answers, sounding scared beyond belief. "How'd you know Dallas's name?" He continues. I don't remember this in the book.

"What?"

"You called Dallas by his name, but he's never even seen you before, and you're a-a Soc." _Uh-oh_.

"I've um, heard of him, in school. Seen him around campus. Oh, and I'm Cherry Valance."

"Yeah I've heard of you. You're a cheerleader right? We go to the same school."

"Exactly. See you know my name because we go to the same school, and I know Dallas's name because we go to the same school." I add with a smile.

"Dally doesn't go to school. He dropped out." _Oh shit. _

"Right, but um I knew him from before he dropped out." I think I saved that one. It doesn't look like Dallas is coming back any time soon, so I'll just skip ahead to getting drinks.

"Hey come with me to get a coke?" He looks very intimidated. "Sure." He says reluctantly, with a glance at Johnny.

So I try to start a conversation with Ponyboy about Johnny because I'm 95% sure that's what they talk about in the book at this point. Suddenly a boy about 15ish looking cuts in line right behind us. No one else seems to notice him. His black hair is slicked back with pounds of gel, and he's wearing a leather jacket so he looks like a greaser.

"Hey Ponyboy." I whisper. "Do you know that kid behind us? Is he a greaser?" Ponyboy looks beyond confused. He peers behind my shoulder. "Who?"

"That guy right behind me."

"Cherry, um, there's no one behind us." I turn around but the guy is still there. Okaayy…

So I try forgetting about him and focusing on the Johnny story, when I feel his lips right next to my ear and a chill goes down my spine. "A little lost?" He whispers. I tense up. "No one else can see me right? And everyone thinks you're one of the characters?"

I whip around to face him, but I awkwardly turn inches from his face and now we're just staring intently at each other. Suddenly he steps to the side, just as Bob appears.

"Cherry!"

"Bob?"

"Cherry, I thought about what you said, and you're right. I care so much more about you than some drink and I don't want to die like that. I want to live the rest of my life. With you." My mouth drops five inches, and Ponyboy tenses up behind me and I can tell he's just as scared as I am. The gel guy starts laughing though, so I yell at him "Shut up!"

But Bob thinks I'm talking to him, "What? But Cherry I-"

"No, not you!" I interrupt. Ponyboy starts backing away. "Wait, Ponyboy, don't go I can explain!"

He just keeps looking at Bob in terror, when suddenly Johnny runs up from the seating area. "Dallas is back! Ponyboy, Cherry, um, Marcia kinda left with him."

"What?!" I explain. This isn't supposed to be happening. Then Johnny sees Bob and a wave of pure horror washes over his face. He looks up at Ponyboy and says so quietly I'm sure Ponyboy can't hear him "The rings." But I guess Ponyboy can hear him because he nods his head, and before I can stop either of them they run off into the night. _Oh shit, oh shit, shit, shit! I really messed up the plot. This is not good._

Bob takes my hand, "Cherry?" But I pull it away from him, and march right towards the gel guy who's been laughing harder and harder this whole time. "Stop laughing and explain to me who you are!" I yell while pointing accusingly at him.

"Cherry?" Bob looks really concerned right now. I just ignore him.

"Why can't anyone else see you?" He laughs some more.

"Because I'm not part of the story. I'm not a character." He answers.

"Then who are you?"

"A normal person like you."

"Then can you explain how I got here in the first place?"

"I don't know. Everyone gets here differently."

"That's unspecific! How do I get out?"

"Get out? Why would you want to get out?"

"BECAUSE I WANT TO GO HOME!" I scream getting frustrated.

"Fine, fine, you need to reach the most popular fanfiction."

"What?"

"Which I believe is Harry Potter right now."

"Wait, wait you lost me."

"Look, I better go. It looks like you royally screwed up and I don't want to be here when the Editors show up."

"What? Wait no don't-" But I'm interrupted as I hear a commotion behind me. I turn back to gel guy but he's gone. Suddenly I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn and it's Bob. But he's not alone, there are other Soc guys with him, and I have a bad feeling about this.

"Cherry, let's get you home. You've had a very long day and you must be very tired."

He looks concerned enough, but not the _you look tired _concerned_,_ but the _let's get you to a mental institute _concerned.

In a second I make my decision. I rip his hands off me and turn and run for it. I hear a commotion behind me as they scramble to catch me.

Suddenly I realize that I have no idea where I'm going and I've never been here before, and I don't even know where the bathrooms are, let alone the exit. But I see a fence directly ahead of me. If I can just hop it I should be in the clear.

I hear them getting closer behind me, and everyone else in the drive in are either screaming or running away, but I keep going. It's so close I can almost feel the cold metal.

Just as I grab for the fence, I feel someone's hands pulling at my waist, but I just hang on. I kick as hard as I can, grateful I'm wearing heels, and hear an _ouch_ behind me and know I've reached my target.

The hands slip away and I climb to the top as fast as I can. But my heart jumps to my throat as I hear a horrible tearing noise and realize my skirt has caught on the fence. I lose my balance, and the tearing continues as I fall to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

My head is killing me. I feel someone shaking my shoulder. _Clary, _I think I hear someone saying in the background. There's also a rhythmic thumping in my head. I can't get it out. _CLARY._ The shaking gets harder until I start flailing my arms. "Clary."

My eyes slowly pry open. There's a blinding light. Actually a multicolored light. I realize I'm in a club. There's a kid shaking me. He has freshly scrubbed dark brown hair, and glasses perched crookedly on his scrunched nose. _Where am I? _"Clary are you alright?"

I sit up. He's talking to me. So I guess I'm Clary. _Who's Clary?_ "Um, excuse me, can I just, um go to the ladies room?" He looks confused. "Alright. I'll be right here."

My head is still swirling as I push my way through the crowd to the bathroom. When I get there I stare at my hair in the mirror. It's red. I now have red hair. _Why? _I'm on the verge of tears when the door opens. My face turns as red as my hair when I notice who it is.

"THIS IS THE WOMAN'S BATHROOM!" I scream at the gel guy.

"Hey I'm just here to help," he says.

"Because you're so helpful." I say as I glare at him.

"Come on, you can use all the help you can get. After all, you did almost get thrown into a mental house." I just sit there silently because I know he's right.

"Fine." I eventually say.

"Great. So this is what you're going to do. Follow your instinct, 'cause that's the author telling you what to do. And follow what you can remember of the book."

"About that. Where am I?"

"Oh, The Mortal Instruments novels. The first book: City of Bones." Oh. I know this book. Wait, so I'm in a club, so I'm right at the beginning. Uh-oh, now I wish I hadn't stopped reading after the first chapter.

"Ok, I think I understand. But one more thing, what's your name?"

"Oh, Nemo."

"Nemo?"

"Nemo."

"Like, Captain Nemo? Finding Nemo?"

"Yep."

"Okay."

"So what's your name?"

"Oh, well, it's-, well, I mean…It's, um, Cherry, wait no Clary, no wait, what? It's um, why can't I remember my name?! Oh my god! What? I don't understand!"

"Calm down. It's alright. You'll probably remember in a while. I'm sure this happens sometimes. Of course most people don't end up in stories like us." I just stand there trying to catch my breath and calm down. _Breath-in, breath out. _

"Alright…I'm fine," I lie.

"Great. So just get out there and remember, follow your gut feeling."

"Alright, Captain."

"It's Nemo."

"Yep, Captain Nemo." I say as I walk out the door. I scan the dance floor but see no one that remotely resembles Jace, or any of the other shadow hunters. But then I see a flash of blond hair over on the other side. I get over there and find the door they disappeared through.

I open it and find myself in a storage room with faint light spilling down from dirt smeared windows. I crouch behind some boxes as I wait for my gut instinct to tell me to do something.

There's a woman who looks like she belongs on the cover of a Victoria's Secret magazine. Then there are two guys standing behind her, a blond one, Jace, and a black haired one, Alec. Then there's the demon with electric blue hair. They're all having a conversation about demons or something.

Suddenly I hear Jace say "You can _join him there."_ I feel my instinct kick in and I stand up and begin to yell stop, but my foot catches on a stray electrical wire and I trip over it so it comes out more like "STOWOOPPS!"

As I fall to the ground I can hear the music in the other room stop and people start booing. Woops. Looks like that wire connected to the sound system. I quickly get back up and recollect myself. "Stop." I say as intimidatingly as I can. Everyone else in the room seems confused beyond belief. So there's just an awkward silence. Finally Alec breaks it by saying "What?"

"She can see us." Isabelle whispers to Jace. Alec also whispers to Jace. "What's this?"

"It's a girl." Jace replies.

"You don't say." I say him, my voice dripping with sarcasm. Jace looks confused, but recovers his composure.

"A mundie girl. And she can see us." He says.

"Of course I can see you. I'm not blind you know."

"Oh, but you are." He says bending down to pick up his knife.

"Wow, so ominous." I say to myself.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing."

"Look, you better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."

"I can't do that, cause if I do you'll kill him." I say motioning toward the demon. Of course I know it's a demon, but I'm following my instinct and what little I can remember of the first chapter of this book.

"What do you care if I kill him?"

"Because you can't just KILL PEOPLE!" I exclaim.

"Exactly."

"What?"

"I said exactly."

"I know you said exactly, but I mean exactly _what?"_

"I mean you're exactly right, you can't just go around killing people!"

"What?"

"Oh my god! He's a DEMON! For Christ's sake…"

"Jace, that's enough." Isabelle says with a warning tone.

"You people are crazy, but luckily I already called the police. They should be here any moment."

"She's lying." Alec says, but there's doubt on his face. Then, right on schedule, the demon tears free of his restraints. Everyone jumps into battle mode, while I just stand here awkwardly trying not to get killed. Suddenly I notice a stray pipe, so I pick it up.

At that moment the demon jumps on Jace and is about to slash at him when I hit him squarely on the back with my pipe. He lets out a shriek and faces me with a look of immense fury. I'm about hit him again, but Jace sinks his knife into the demon's back and the black liquid explodes from the hilt. He began to fold in on himself until he vanished entirely.

I decide to take my leave now, before anything else happens. I turn to sneak away, but Isabelle is standing in my way. She looks kind of pissed. "I have a pipe and I'm not afraid to use it." I say.

She flicks her whip at me and pulls the pipe from my hand. "Hey. Um…I don't have a pipe anymore, but I'm still not afraid to use it."

She looks like she's about to whip me to death, when Jace interrupts. "She knows too much."

"So what should we do?" Isabelle asks.

"Let her go." Jace answers.

"We could bring her to the Institute." Alec suggests.

"Or you could let me go." I add.

Isabelle glares at me. "No one asked you, you stupid little mundie." I'm about to sass her back, when Jace says "But is she a mundie? Girl, have you had any dealings with demons? Walked with warlocks, talked with the Night Children? Have you-"

"First off, I have a name. Second off, you're all crazy-" _Because I'm one to talk. "_And third off, I'm not answering any of your questions if you keep being so rude to me."

I'm pretty sure that at this point Simon is supposed to intervene, but I'm not seeing him. I guess I'll just have to escape myself.

"Also, you called that kid a demon. Could there not be more demons here? Cause that guy standing behind you looks pretty demonic to me." Of course there's no one there, but they all turn in surprise. _Gotcha. _I jump at the door and plunge back into the crowd of the party. I frantically search for Simon, and pray that they haven't found me yet.

I see him over by the bathrooms. "SIMON!" I yell out. "Let's go. NOW!" I grab his hand and we run off into the night. We run for a few blocks, and then grab a taxi. My heart is still pounding though. I'm so lucky that worked, but I don't think I followed the book exactly. Oh well, I'm sure there's no harm done…

Well, I guess there was a _little _harm done. My "mom" Jocelyn is furious when I get home so late. And honestly, I'm so tired I don't even care. I just plop down on "my" bed and immediately fall asleep.

The strange thing was, when I wake up I remember strange things from my dream. It wasn't even really a dream, it was more like a lifetime of memories. The really eerie thing was that they weren't even my memories, they were Clary's. But they felt so real they might as well be my memories.

The one prominent thing that stuck out from these dreams was a box with the initials J.C. on it. There was an image of Jocelyn crying silently over it with a strand of white blond hair in her hand. I don't know why it bothers me so much though.

So anyway, then I get a strange urge to draw something. Well not _something, _Jace. But I know I can't draw. I failed art in 2nd grade. But low and behold there is a sketch book lying on Clary's desk. So I grab a pencil and plug in her ipod.

At first I'm hesitant because her music isn't really what I'm into, but as I listen more and more I find myself appreciating it. I make a mental note to download some of these Stepping Razor songs.

Another weird thing begins to happen. I start to draw, and it looks good. Not even good, _great. _I mean like _you can actually tell what it is I'm drawing_ great. When I'm done I just hold it up and stare in awe at it. Who knew Miss Hansin, my art teacher from last year, was such a remarkable teacher. This is definitely going on the refrigerator when I get home.

_If _I get home. Right now it's not looking so great. I feel a rush of longing in the pit of my stomach and wish I was sitting in my room instead of some stranger's.

But the mood is interrupted as I hear the phone ring in the other room. I pick it up.

"Hi, I'd like to order 12 pepperoni pizzas with extra cheese." I immediately know its Simon.

"I'm sorry our authentic brick ovens currently don't exist. I suggest you try a _real _pizzeria, Simon." I hear him laughing through the phone.

"So why'd you call?" I ask.

"Well, I was really just checking up on you, because you seemed to be kind of out of it yesterday."

"Thanks, but I'm really fine now." _Not. _I'll probably never be fine again, but I can handle it.

"Cool. And also, um, Eric" _Eric?_ Ahh Eric. The one with the band, as I recall from my dream memories. "is having a poetry reading at Java Jones, and the whole band is going to show their support. Do you wanna come?"

I pause, trying to find my "gut instinct." Nothing's there, so I guess this one is up to me. "Sure. I'll just have to ask my mom when she gets home." I can almost hear his smile on the other side of the phone.

"Awesome. Get back to me asap." We both hang up just as the front door opens. Luke walks in carrying what look like big squares of pasteboard. I also remember him from my dream.

"Hey. Where's mom?"

"Parking the truck. Remind me again why this building has no elevator service."

"Because our landlord has been considerate enough to know that we live in America and can use as much exercise as possible, and we are also cheap as hell." I smile at him and he smiles back.

I hear boot heels clicking on the wooden floor and know Jocelyn has entered the apartment. "Thanks for bringing up the boxes." She says to Luke. I see a glance flash between them and know something's up.

"What are the boxes for?" I asked suspiciously, narrowing my eyes to slits.

She seems to take forever to answer. Just as she takes a breath and I think she's going to say something, she sighs. "We're going on vacation." Luke and Jocelyn both tense up as if expecting an argument.

"Where to?" I simply ask. They both share a puzzled glance.

"Um, to the farmhouse." A farmhouse? Seriously? L-A-M-E.

"Why not Hawaii. I hear it's lovely this time of year. OH, or Washington D.C. We could take a tour of the White House!"

"Well. Um maybe next time. I'm sorry for now you'll just have to deal with the farmhouse. And also, it's for the rest of the summer."

"Ok." What do I care? It's not like I'll be here for the rest of the summer. At least, I _hope _not.

"So I'll start packing, but um can I go to like a poetry reading thingy with Simon?" Jocelyn and Luke still seem shocked by my calm. "Sure. But you're not angry about the farmhouse? Not even a little?"

"Nope." Just as I say this the door flies open.

"JESUS!" Luke exclaims. Simon stands in the doorway. "Actually, it's just me. Although I've been told the resemblance is startling." He waves at me from the doorway. "Did you get the okay from your mom?"

"Yep." But Jocelyn quickly adds before we go "Don't forget your cellphone sweetie!"

"I won't mom."

As soon as we walk out the door I catch sight of a cat. I believe its Dorothea's. I quickly bend down to pick it up and start petting it. I hold it tightly against my chest so I can properly hold it. I starts purring loudly and the sound is so familiar I just want to go home and snuggle with my cats. I've always loved cats. Then I notice Simon glaring at me.

"Why are you glaring at me?" I ask blatantly.

"Not you, _it_." He says spitting out venom and pointing at the cat.

"You don't like cats?" I ask innocently.

"Are you kidding me? I've always hated them. Allergies. Geez, how do you not remember? We've been through this a million times." He adds, still glaring at the cat.

"Of course I remember, I was just- um, testing you. Yeah, wanted to make sure you remember." I ask while laughing, when in honesty I don't remember anything about it. That's one memory that didn't appear in the dream. I put the cat down and we continue out.

As we walk to the café or whatever, Simon does most of the talking, about like band names, or girlfriends, I don't know. I add helpful comments sparingly, and nod my head when necessary. My phone goes off a few times, but I just leave it because my "instincts" are telling me to.

Before I know it we're at the café. I sit down as Simon gets us coffee. The poetry sucks. I mean flat out _sucks._ But this is where the story is going so I stay put and just try to block it out.

I feel a tap on my shoulder and spin around about to kungfu whoever's sneaking up on me, but it's just a girl.

"Excuse me." She says, not intimidated by my catlike reflexes. "Is that your boyfriend?" She asks, pointing to Simon.

I follow her finger. Then motion to Simon and back to her to be sure I got it right. She nods her head. I repeat the motion. She nods her head again.

"Simon?" I ask. "Like glasses standing in line over there with two cups of coffee, _Simon?" _She nods her head again. "And you're asking me if _he's _my _boyfriend?_" She nods her head.

I immediately burst into laughter. I feel terrible, but I can't help laughing at the absolute absurdity of all this. And then I just start laughing harder because Simon thinks he's known me all he's life but in reality it's only been a few hours. And then people start giving me confused looks, and even some angry looks for interrupting Eric's poetry or whatever, and this makes me laugh even _harder. _And I take one look at the girl's face who asked this question and I just can't even take it anymore and I just pound my head on the table to calm myself down.

When I can finally talk again I simply answer "No, he is not my boyfriend." And turn back around. Simon comes back a few moments later, apparently not having noticed my laughing fit.

"I hate it when they run out of mugs. Those things are hot." He comments about Styrofoam cups.

"You're staring at me. Why are you staring at me? Have I got something on my face?" He asks. _Alright I'm gonna tell him, _I decide.

"Don't look now, but blondie twelve o'clock thinks you're cute." His eyes flicker over to her.

"Orange top?"

"Yep"

"What makes you think so?"

"I can read minds, _what do you think? _She told me."

"Really?"

"I know I'm in as much shock as you, but yes, really."

"Um, well actually that's kind of funny because it kind of leads into what I wanted to ask you."

"Which is?"

"Um, well, all the other guys in the band have girlfriends, and while that blondie is cute, I would rather I date someone closer to home."

"Oh god. You know incest is against the law right?" Simon looks very confused. I continue, "All I'm asking is please don't kiss your sister in front of me because I will be very disturbed."

"NO! Don't worry I'm not incestual. I just meant someone I've known for a long time." I nod my head.

"Like who?" I ask. A look of pure pain crosses his face.

"Like someone who's been my friend since we were little. Like _you._" I pause to think. I certainly don't know anyone, but it's very possible that Simon simply is talking about someone not in my memories. He's just sitting there waiting for me to comment. So I do, "So, who is it?"

He looks like he's ready to claw his eyes out, when I heard a very loud laugh behind me. I immediately turn, ready to use my kungfu moves again, and I realize it's Jace from the night before. I feel terrible but I immediately stand up and say "Simon, I'm sure who ever it is you're crushing on will say yes, but I just realized that I, um, left the phone at home. Yep! I have to go home immediately to get it."

"No you didn't" Simon replies. "It went off a bunch of times while we were walking here." _Oh damn. _

"Yes…" I stall as I try to come up with a better excuse. "What I meant was, my phone is dead. Yeah, it like, _just _died, so I better go home and charge it."

"But I have a phone charger. You can totally borrow it and plug it in right here." Simon says pointing to an outlet conveniently located right next to our table.

"How convenient." I mutter.

"What?" Simon asks.

"I said I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO PUKE AND I'm LEAVING now!" And I run away before he can foil my excuses again. I turn the corner, and Jace is already standing outside.

"You're friend's poetry is terrible." He says in a deep voice while looking at me through his bangs. Wow…How cliché. Oh well, _just go with it_.

"Please," I answer, "He's not MY friend."

"Well, it sounds like he ate a dictionary and started vomiting up words at random."

"I don't know if it was vomiting or explosive diarrhea but it sure was horrible." He laughs at this.

"So, why are you following me?" I ask casually.

"Who said I was following you?" He asks coyly.

"Are you kidding me? So what? Was it a coincidence you just so happened to walk into the same café and happen to sit behind me and _just so happen_ to eavesdrop on my conversation? You're right, I think that's stalking."

"Alright. You caught me. But to be fair, I was sent to get you."

"And you somehow made this creepier. Why?"

"Because you're a mundane." And he starts rambling on about an institute or something or other and mundanes and warlocks and demons, blahblahblah.

"And that's why you need to come to the institute." He finishes.

"I'm sorry can you explain that one more time, I kind of blanked out there." He looks kind of shocked that anyone as common as a mundane could have the nerve to stop listening to his voice halfway through his speech.

"Look, you're coming whether you want to or not."

"Excuse me? Who do you think you _are_? _You're coming whether you want to or not._" I joke in a mocking voice. "Please. Don't be so dramatic. All you have to say is please."

Before he can reply my phone goes off. I decide I better pick up this time, since she keeps trying. "Hello."

"Clary oh thank god. Listen to me-" It's Jocelyn and she sounds upset. I've been expecting something dramatic to show up soon.

"Clary, you can't come home. Go to Simon's. Stay there until I-" but she's cut off midsentence.

I sigh. "Well, it's been nice meeting you, Jace, but it looks like that's my cue to go," I say as I start walking away.

"Hold up. I'm not leaving without you." He threatens.

"Well then I guess you're not leaving." I shoot back as I run off towards home.

I feel compelled to help Jocelyn even though she's not my mother. I say this because even though she's just a character, who's to say she doesn't have feelings or can actually die? I ponder this as I walk into the apartment. It is silent as the grave, and there is no sign of the cat.

I grab a vase and hope it will help me defend myself from whatever's in that room. I've read enough books to know how these scenes go. I just need to give it one fatal blow. I wander through the empty apartment, but find nothing. What I do find has been torn up so terribly I can't even tell what it was once supposed to be.

I notice the silence isn't quite silence anymore, but there's a faint slithering noise in the background. _Maybe it's a mutant snake?_

But then I see this centipede like creature slither along the floor through the doorway. I shriek at the top of my lungs. The one thing I hate more than anything in the world is antifeminism, but the second thing I hate more than anything in the world is bugs.

I immediately throw my vase directly on its head with a deafening _cra_sh! As it breaks into a million pieces. I push the cabinet right next to me onto the monster. I then jump on it and repeatedly jump up and down throwing all my weight into squishing it while yelling, "_die, die, DIE, DIE!"_

Eventually black ooze starts spilling out, but I jump a few more times just to be sure. It stops moving. I run into the kitchen, grab the biggest knife I can find, and run back. It's stopped moving for good.

A moment later Jace steps into the apartment. The look of shock on his face is priceless as he tries to figure out what happened here.

"Thanks for finally _showing up._" I say dripping with sarcasm.


	3. Chapter 3

So Jace drags me to his Institute, and I make some new friends. And by this I mean I could tell they all hate me.

Hodge is the stereotypical wise older dude that guides the younglings but can't actually do anything useful himself (like leaving the building). I can tell you already that Isabelle feels threatened by me, and also likes to feel superior. Alec seems to also resent me, I think it might be because he feels I'm getting between his friendship with Jace? I not sure exactly what he deal is yet.

And Jace is, well, Jace. I can't help but have his nagging sensation in the back of my mind when he flirts with me, maybe it's just that instinct kicking in. But…

I'm also given the breakdown of things. Clave, demons, Shadowhunters, and runes. Exciting stuff. I make sure to pay close attention though so I know what's going on. Hodge casually mentions something about a "silent brother". Everyone makes a face, so I make a mental note to ask what that is later.

Isabelle gives me some of her clothes and I go change. They show me where my room is. But instead of changing I sit on my bed. And that's just it. It's not _my _bed, it's someone else's. It's not even _Clary's_ bed. It's just cold and unfamiliar. I miss the warm safety of my own bed. The one that smells like strawberry shampoo and has cat fur all nestled into the covers. The bed with the sheets I picked out, in the room I designed, in my home, and most importantly, in my universe. I just want to go home. But I refuse to shed any tears.

I finally work up the resolve to get changed, and start taking off my shirt, when I let out a glass-breaking howl. Jace throws the door open (and luckily I've put my shirt back down) but I tell him I'm fine, just jumpy, because of course he can't see Nemo standing behind me laughing his head off. So Jace leaves, very bewildered.

"You perv!" I shout at Nemo, when I know Jace is safely out of hearing distance. "What do you think you were doing?"

"I was just checking in on you. See if you were doing alright." He says, leaning in way to close to my face.

"Well, as a matter of fact, yes, I am fine."

"Ok then. Remembered anything new?"

"How did you know?" He laughs at my ignorance.

"_Please_ I've been jumping for years. I know all the ins and outs."

"Jumping?" He just rolls his eyes this time.

"It's what you've been doing. Jumping from story to story. But everyone jumps differently. I'm a pro so I know how to do it on demand."

"Well, _Mr. Pro, _I'm assuming you know how to get out then?"

"I told you already. You have to reach the most popular fanfiction and defeat the enemy. Then once the climax has ended, the story will reach a breaking point. This means that it will be safe for you to jump out of the Library."

"Alright? But I though you said I was in the story, not a fanfiction?"

"Well, you can travel in both. So far though, you've only been to the real stories. Maybe that's just how you're going to jump."

"Ok. But how come I'm part of the story and you're not?" And again with the eye rolling.

"Because everyone jumps differently and I know how to jump so I'm a shadow. Which means that none of the characters can see me." He says, predicting my question.

"Wonderful. So when can I get out of here?" I ask. And cue the eye rolling.

"You can't just jump from one story to another, well actually _I _can, but _you_ cannot. So you need to either wait for enough energy, which you get from a climax or any other high point of the story. So just wait it out a bit. You'll probably jump when it's natural for you. Usually it's a subconscious thing, except-"

"For you, yeah I get it. Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah. Don't mess things up. The Editors will get you." I don't even ask who The Editors are because Nemo can tell from my silence and raised eyebrow that I have not the slightest idea.

"The Editors are like the police of the Library. The Library is where we are, in the book. What they do is find any jumpers or viruses like us who might mess with the plot. I don't actually know what happens if they get you, but I can assume it's not very nice. Probably get deleted from the universe, that kind of thing. They'll also repair any damage done in the story. I'm sure their still working on that mess you made in _The Outsiders_"

"Hey. So not fair. I didn't even really know where I was."

"Excuses, excuses…Either way you'll probably be fine for now, just don't get into too much trouble." His hand rests on the doorknob. He turns back. "And by the way, if you get hurt, you get hurt for real. So I would just be careful if I was you." And he walked out the door. I run to go catch him, but he's nowhere to be seen. He must have "jumped".

I notice how much time I've been taking and quickly change and go meet up with the others.

Anyway, so Jace has this idea to go revisit the apartment or something like that, through some very convenient circumstances we end up in Madame Dorothea's, and _guess what?_ She's a witch. And _guess what else?_ She has a dimensional portal to an important plot point. Well, kind of important. Either way, I "accidentally" fall through it, because the foreshadowing makes it very clear that this is what the author wants me to do.

And we end up at a bookstore…I thought it was supposed to be a plot point? Oh wait, Luke's apartment is in the back. I'm assuming this is our next step. _Guess who else is conveniently there?_ That's right, Simon. I'm beginning to get suspicious that I'm getting stuck in the middle of love triangle. _Great._

So the three of us search Luke's place and find nothing of any interest. Except for like a bag. Filled with weapons.

Suddenly we hear some people coming in through the only exit. So we hide behind a rosewood screen. It's actually very nice, and I'm a little disappointed when Jace makes a one-way window through the middle of it.

To sum up their conversation, Valentine is back, he has Clary's mother, he is willing to trade her for the "Mortal Cup" (Whatever that is), and Luke wants nothing to do with it. It's weird, but from the conversation I kind of gather that Luke used to have a thing for my mom. Well, not _my _mom, but you know what I mean.

I almost get us caught by sneezing my brains out. It's weird because I only sneeze when I'm around dogs, because I'm allergic, but Luke has no dogs. Weird…Probably nothing.

After the previous incident, we learn from Hodge that Jocelyn was once married to Valentine, and they had a rebellious circle that wanted to ride the world of all underworlders. We also learn Hodge was part of this "Circle".

I have trouble focusing though because Simon has gone all goo-goo eyed over Isabelle. I don't even know why this bothers me because I don't even like Simon! Maybe it's just the "instinct" affecting me, or I just feel bad that she's taking advantage of him.

I snap back into focus though when I feel an icy shiver run down my spine. I turn. I glance sideways at Jace and make eye-contact. _Silent Brother?_ I mouth silently, because I'm afraid to break this absolute silence. Jace nods his head.

There's an awkward silence that follows. As usual I go ahead and break it, awkwardly.

"Helloo, my name is Clary. It is delightful to meet you." I wait for a respond. I see no lips moving, but I can't even see under his hood. I'm just holding my hand out awkwardly waiting for him to shake it.

_This is Jocelyn's daughter? _I hear, but not through my ears, in my head. I fully understand now, and pull my hand back and try to play it off as pushing back my hair.

"Yep. That's me. Clarissa Fray. Clary for short." Nothing. "I guess you'll be helping me find my lost memories?" _If I can._ Wow. Ok. A little ominous.

"So…shall we get this show on the road?" _What?_ "Can we just get this over with?" _Ye_s.

He reaches up to touch my face. Suddenly I see the library start to melt away, like colors getting washed off a canvas. I feel a pressure, a drawing pull in her head and hands and feet. I hear myself gasp and-I'm back home.

Wait no. The silent brother is here with me. _Who are you?_

"Clary" I hear myself say, but muffled as if through a screen. _No. You are an otherworldling. How did you get here?_

I see myself from third person pressing the button. "Through my computer. Can you help me get back?" The moments of silence crush me. _No._

"Please don't tell them then. I don't want to cause trouble. I just want to go home. _Please _just play along." Before I can get an answer, I'm being pulled up into the sun. Bam! I'm standing back in the library. Very dizzy, but in one piece.

I silently pray that the silent brother will help me, even though I know he can probably hear my thoughts.

_There is a block on your mind. Your memories cannot be reached. _I let out a (very loud) sigh of relief. Maybe a little too loud cause everyone turns to look at me. I just act natural.

_But there is one memory that has surfaced. MAGNUS BANE. _

Somehow the name MAGNUS BANE means we have to crash a party. I guess I'm fine with that, I just hope they can handle my dance moves.

The actually party starts at midnight, so I have the whole day to do nothing. I try to get some extra hours of sleep, but it just won't come. Maybe it's because I keep going back to thinking about Jace. Not in the way you think. I've been wondering if he actually likes me for me, or just the character. I know it's a stupid thing to think about, but I can't shake it off. He is very handsome, I'll give him that, but to be honest, I just really could care less. I'm a little too focused on trying to get home than getting a date. Unfortunately I'm just gonna have to play along with it…I suppose it could be worse.

I hear a knock on my door. I have a bad feeling. I hesitate before going to open it. Before I can make up my mind, Jace opens the door anyway. "Hello. Did you hear me knock?" He asks, very charmingly and flirtatiously as usually.

"Yes. Did you hear me ignore it?" I answer back.

"I'm sorry. You must not have opened it because you thought I was Simon." He is so not getting my point.

"Somehow, I don't think that's it." Still clearly not getting my message, he gracefully lays on my bed. I preoccupy myself with something. I grab my sketchbook and start to scribble. I feel him get very close and lay his head on my shoulder. "You're not terrible."

"Wow. Thanks. You really know how to flatter people. You know that?" I say, but I look down and still just see squiggly lines and circles. I don't know what Jace is looking at.

"Look I'm really tired. Maybe it would be best if you left now. Like _now._" I hint. Clearly Jace still isn't getting it though. He leans back showing off his slender body.

"If you're really that tired I could tell you a bedtime story."

"I'd really rather not."

"Close your eyes."

"Are you kidding me? WTF? Can you please just let me sleep?"

"Once there was a boy."

"Are you even listening to me anymore?"

"When the boy was six years old, his father gave him a falcon to train."

"I give up!" I sit down on the bed, (make extra sure to keep personal space between us) and listen to his story. It is honestly the most depressing thing I have maybe ever heard. I mean. Jesus, this kid's life kind of sucked. But Jace is so into it that I don't have the heart to tell him.

In fact, I'm actually kind of sleepy. I don't even notice it when I just drift off, although I am faintly aware of Jace closing the space between us.


	4. Chapter 4

"This isn't a garage, it's a dump." Balthazar said, frowning in disgust as he inspected his surroundings. The other angels had matching looks of displeasure.

"Hey! You don't like it, you can go back to that crappy fast food restaurant and face Heaven. Alone." Dean said.

"Fair enough." Balthazar said.

Dean lead the way, as the angels followed behind him. For once, he had a bounce to his step and it almost felt as if he was alive again. Almost.

"Just a warning, Bobby can be a little...forward when you first meet him." Dean explained. "So be prepared."

Just as they reached the front door, it swung open and a rifle was pointed directly at Dean's face.

"Bobby!" He said, seeing the familiar face past the gun. There was no response.

"Dean, you're a ghost. He can't see or hear you." Castiel reminded him. Dean's spirit sank.

"What did you say?!" Bobby asked, pointing the gun down at Castiel. "Who are ya'll and what'dya want?"

"I'm Castiel, angel of the Lord." Castiel said. Bobby laughed.

"Nice try, but angel's ain't real." He said. Dean shook his head.

"Tell Bobby that you're with me." Dean said. "Tell him that I'm alright but that I'm a ghost."

"Bobby, this may be hard for you to comprehend-" Castiel began, but Bobby cut him off.

"How did you know my name?" He asked.

"Dean told me." Castiel explained. Bobby was silent. He looked away from Castiel to the other angels, then glared down at Castiel.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, but you have ten seconds to get off my property." Bobby said.

"I knew this wouldn't work." Gadreel said.

"Bobby! Bobby!" Dean cried. He tried to touch Bobby. "Bobby! It's Dean."

There was no response from Bobby. He started to count down from ten. Dean felt the frustration building up, getting ready to explode. He came all the way from Heaven, and he had already lost Sam, he wouldn't give up on Bobby.

"Bobby, put the damn rifle away!" Dean cried, venting his anger. Bobby froze, and looked around wildly.

"Dean?" He asked quietly.

"Yes! Bobby, it's me." Dean said, but Bobby couldn't hear him. Bobby looked back to Castiel.

"What did you say about Dean?" He asked. Castiel's eyebrows scrunched together in pity.

"Dean is here, but he's a ghost." Castiel said. "It's all very complicated, but we need refuge from Heaven and Dean suggested we come here."

Dean, if you're really here," Bobby asked. "Where did I take you and Sam when your father was on a case and it was your ninth birthday?"

"Chuck E Cheese's." Dean said with a smile. "And Sam puked in the ball pit after eating two pizza pies by myself."

The angels all looked very lost. Castiel answered Bobby.

"My god." Bobby looked ready to faint, but then regained his composure. "Dean, you stupid boy! What the hell are you doing down here? You're supposed to be up in Heaven being pampered by cherubs."

"Yeah, well babies in diapers isn't too far from the truth." Dean said. The angels scowled at him. "If you spent three months in the Waiting Room, you'd say the same thing."

"There are currently some problems in Heaven." Castiel said.

"Well, ya'll better explain inside." Bobby said. "Although, I've never met angels before. Ya'll want anything to eat or drink?"

They all shook their heads. Bobby led them into the house, with Dean walking right beside him. He was about to ask Bobby for a cold beer, when he remembered he couldn't touch anything in the physical realm.

"Heaven is currently in a civil war because we've run out of space for souls." Castiel said. "Heaven plans on leaving the souls in the Waiting Room forever. We refused to accept that, so we were exiled on threat of death."

"Hold up. What's a waiting room?" Bobby asked.

"The Waiting Room." Castiel corrected. "It's a waystation between death and salvation."

"And the chairs are uncomfortable." Dean said. He had a pained look on his face just remembering. "And there aren't even any magazines to read."

"Yes Dean," Castiel agreed. "Precisely why we must free the souls and deliver them, if not to Heaven, at least somewhere other than the Waiting Room."

"So it's like Purgatory." Bobby said.

"No," Castiel said. Dean noticed his face grew darker. "Purgatory is a myth. We've been fighting to free souls and find a solution but…"

"Let me guess, you aren't doing too hot, and now you need somewhere to hide from Heaven." Bobby said. Castiel nodded.

"And clearly Dean has been helping ya'll, and suggested you come here?" Bobby asked. Castiel nodded again. Bobby shrugged.

"Well, friends of Dean's are friends of mine." Bobby said.

"I knew I could count on you, Bobby." Dean said.

"Dean says, he knew he could count on you." Castiel repeated, so Bobby could hear.

"I would hope so after all those other times I've saved his sorry ass." Bobby said. "So, what's the plan?"

"Plan?" Castiel asked.

"Yeah," Bobby said. "You idjits gotta have some sort of plan!"

Castiel knit his eyebrows together and considered it.

"I suppose we'll need to Heaven proof this house, wait until things have died down, and then return to our base to help the wounded angels that were left defenseless." He said.

Samandriel walked into the room just in time to hear the end of Castiel's statement.

"That may be harder than we expected." Samandriel said. "My contact just finished updating me on Heaven's plans. They are really serious this time. They've sent assassins to find us. They've also surrounded the base and moved the angels to a prison in Heaven, including the wounded.

"We could still go to-" Hannah began, but Dean cut her off.

"Whoa, whoa. Go somewhere? What about the wounded angels?" He asked.

"They've been captured by Heaven. If they're in a prison then that means they're in the heavily guarded sections." Hannah said. "There's no saving them."

"That's horsecrap." Bobby said.

"Yeah," Dean agreed. "I knew angels were dicks, but that's just heartless."

"Heartless?" Hannah asked, angrily. "They knew what they were doing. Their sacrifices have saved countless souls."

"That doesn't mean you leave them for dead." Dean said.

"What would you have us do?" Gadreel asked.

"Kick Heaven's ass and get them back." Dean said.

"We don't have the troops for that." Gadreel said.

Castiel put his hand on Dean's shoulder. They locked eyes, and Dean could read a thousands words from his gaze. It was a hopeless mission. He was sorry, but they had to move on. Find more recruits. A necessary sacrifice in war.

Bobby found the whole exchange very disorienting because he could not see Dean, only Castiel staring intensely at empty air.

Finally Dean pulled away from Castiel.

"We don't need troops." Dean said. "If it's heavily guarded, Heaven probably won't be expecting an attack. And they'd assume that if you did attack, it would be large scale because that's what you've been doing in the past."

"In every attack, our forces have been much smaller than Heaven's, but I suppose that strictly speaking, that would still be considered a large scale attack." Gadreel said.

"Then it'd be easier for a small group to sneak in and transport groups of angels at a time." Dean said. The group considered his idea.

"What'd he say?" Bobby asked.

"Dean proposed a small team infiltrate Heaven's prison and free the captives in small groups." Castiel said.

"This is ridiculous." Hannah said. "Heaven would discover them immediately, and even if they didn't, it would take multiple trips to rescue all the angels. That's increased risk that Heaven will find them."

"Actually, Hannah," Gadreel said. "I think it's a good idea. If we send in the more experienced angels, they'd be able to transport quite a few at a time. Better yet, if we provide a distraction raid on the opposite side of Heaven, we could divert some of Heaven's forces."

"Gadreel, I can't believe you're going along with this suicide mission." Hannah said.

"I've had more insane plans that've worked." Dean pointed out.

"Yes, and you died!" Hannah cried. Dean was taken aback. I don't understand why Castiel insists on following your plans or how you even tricked your way into Heaven in the first place. You're plan is going to get us all killed. We were having enough trouble already before you came along. But suddenly, you're here and Heaven's attacking our base and then you suggest we send more angels to die in an effort to save the angels you allowed Heaven to capture."

"Hannah, that's enough!" Castiel said.

"Look, missy. I knew Dean my whole life and he was one of the finest hunter-" Bobby said but Dean put his hand up and a chill fell across the room. Even if he couldn't see him, Bobby felt it and he stopped talking.

"I've spent my life saving people, and even though I'm dead, that's not going to stop me." Dean said. "I'm going to save those angels, you do whatever you want."

And suddenly empty air and heavy silence filled the space where Dean was a moment ago. Hannah stared at the ground with a look of anger and embarrassment. Castiel gazed sadly at where Dean was. Bobby looked around confused.

"Anyone care to fill me in?" He asked. Castiel dropped his eyes.

"Dean's gone," he explained. "But I'm going to go find him. Gadreel, Heaven-proof this house."

Castiel disappeared too. The awkwardness weighed on those left. Balthazar looked around, clearly uncomfortable.

"I'm going to go make a martini." He said, and left for the kitchen. Bobby furrowed his brows in anger.

"Do you know how Dean died?" Bobby asked. The angels looked up and shook their heads. "As you'd expect, it was on a hunting trip. Some ghost was haunting this old wooden bridge and the surrounding woods, so Sam and Dean decided to burn down the bridge, as any good hunters should have. But something went wrong, and Sam was on the bridge when it was set on fire. Dean was on the other side, but he ran across the bridge, through the fire, and was barely able to push Sam to the ledge before the ropes snapped. The bridge went hurtling to the ground, 40 feet below, taking Dean with it."

Hannah's eyes had gone wide, and her jaw was tensed.

"That boy lived saving people, and that's how he died." Bobby said. "So don't tell me that you think he's some spy for Heaven that's putting souls and angels in danger. And don't you dare say he doesn't deserve Heaven. Just know that when he says he'll do whatever it takes to save those angels, you better believe he means it."

Balthazar poked his head back into the room.

"Do you have any olives?" He asked. Bobby nodded and started walking towards the kitchen. Then he paused and looked back to the angels.

"And one more word of wisdom," he said. "No one's as stubborn as a Winchester."

With that, Bobby went into the kitchen and left the angels contemplating what he had just said.

It took Dean a moment to realize where he was. The familiar smells of rust and oil filled his nose. He fought the urge to pick up a wrench and feel the grease slime his fingers so that he'd have to spend hours cleaning out of his nails, but he knew that if he tried to touch anything it would phase through his hands. Instead, he forced himself to admire the cars Bobby was currently repairing.

Dean was also baffled by why he had accidentally teleported to the garage. He didn't do it on purpose, but that didn't mean he was ready to go back to the house quite yet.

He jumped when he heard the crunch of gravel. Castiel had appeared behind him.

"Dean." He said. Not angrily, or forcefully, but almost with a hint of...relief?

"Cas." Dean replied, acknowledging his presence. Neither of them said anything for a moment. Castiel gazed around at the garage, and Dean watched him.

"I take it this is a workshop to repair broken transportation vehicles?" Castiel asked. Dean nodded and sat down.

"To fix broken cars?" Dean said. "Yeah."

"I forget sometimes that humans must walk to their destination." Castiel said. "I imagine it must get rather exhausting."

"I'd say the same thing about teleporting." Dean said. "I feel exhausted after moving 20 feet! Not to mention it's impossible to control. I didn't even mean to come here, or go anywhere really."

"Teleportation, especially in ghosts, is either driven by intense anger or calmness. Clearly your emotions were high, so it was easy to teleport." Castiel explained. "I'm sure you've noticed this in your extensive hunting history, but in threatening situations ghosts tend to return to places of comfort."

"At least that makes sense." Dean said. Castiel sat down next to Dean. He was so close that Dean could feel the steady rhythm of his breathing. Dean was surprised to even be able to hear Castiel's heart. Dean knew it couldn't be his own he was hearing. Castiel turned to look at Dean. Dean jumped slightly. He realized he had unintentionally been staring at Castiel for a while, and he felt embarrassed to have been caught.

"Dean, I apologize for Hannah's words." Castiel said, having apparently not noticed Dean's staring. "She cares so deeply for Heaven, but sometimes it can cloud her vision."

Castiel looked away. Dean sensed there was something more. He wondered what emotion was hiding on Castiel's face, what was lurking behind his eyes. But Castiel's head turned back, and his face had changed. He was once again focused on Dean.

"But I sense there is more to this than Hannah." Castiel said. Dean instinctively frowned.

"Thanks, but I don't need anyone psychoanalyzing me." He said. "I've had enough of that all my life, I'd like to not have any in the afterlife."

Dean immediately felt bad for the words leaving his mouth, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize. Finally though, the heat in his cheeks got to him. But before he could say anything, he felt Castiel rest his hand on his. If Dean had been breathing, he would have stopped then. Cas's hand was warm, lightly callused from battle, and a little sweaty. Dean was sure his was too, and he was nervous that Cas could feel Dean's hand shaking. Dean bit his lip.

"Cas, I'm sorry." He whispered.

"Don't be," Castiel said. And just for a second, Dean could have sworn he felt his heart beat. It was impossible, but he had definitely felt something. He remembered the first time he'd met Cas. His heart had jumped then too.

For a long moment, Dean looked at Castiel, who was gazing at the night sky through the open garage door. Dean followed his gaze. They stared at the scattered stars that seemed to wink at them every now and again. Dean realized it had been three months since he had seen the night sky, and he took in the view. All thoughts of Heaven, Hell, and everything in between disappeared. Dean didn't even notice when his hand stopped shaking.

When Dean and Castiel returned to the house, the other angels had scattered. Balthazar was on his fifth martini, Samandriel was watching cartoons while Gadreel pressured him to change the channel. Hannah was nowhere in sight.

"Where has Hannah gone?" Castiel asked. The other angels shrugged.

"Something about stretching her wings." Gadreel said. Castiel rolled his eyes.

"Give me a moment." He said, and disappeared.

Dean stood in place for a moment. He wasn't in the mood for angel bonding time, so instead he went to look for Bobby. In classic Bobby fashion, Bobby found him first.

"Alright Dean!" He yelled through the house, even though Dean was standing right in front of him. "You've been gone three months and we still haven't had a conversation yet, so get over here."

The box in Bobby's hands made Dean apprehensive. He grimaced.

"Oh Bobby, please tell me that's not what I think it is." He said.

"Dean, if you're here…" Bobby said to the air next to Dean. "I know what you're thinking, but we are gonna talk one way or the other. So you can either sit down or I'm going to go get one of those angels to be a translator. Your decision."

He had no choice. Dean moaned and sat down in front of the Ouija Board. Not that it would actually work though. Those things are notorious for being hoaxes. Bobby put his fingers on the upside down shot glass. Dean rolled his eyes and did the same.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." He muttered.

"Dean, are you here?" Bobby asked. Dean was shocked to discover his fingers didn't phase through the glass. In his excitement, he almost forgot to move the glass to the word yes. When he did, Bobby smiled. Then he sniffed the air and frowned.

"Do you smell smoke?" He asked. Dean sniffed the air, but smelled nothing. They both glanced around the room, but saw nothing burning. Then Dean came to the realization that it must be him. Ghosts oftentimes carried aromas with them, usually something significant to their life, or in Dean's case, death. Bobby came to the same conclusion, and decided it would be best to let the issue pass.

"So, tell me, how's the afterlife?" Bobby asked, changing the conversation. Dean moved the shot glass across the board to the letters to spell out B-O-R-I-N-G. He paused, and then added, A-N-D S-O-B-E-R.

"That must be hard for you." Bobby pointed out. Then he was silent, clearly weighing what he was about to say. "Sam survived. Have you gone to see him yet?"

The shotglass felt ten pounds heavier, and it took all the force in Dean's fingers to push it to _Yes. _Bobby smiled weakly. Dean was glad Bobby couldn't see his face. Bobby seemed to wait for Dean to elaborate, but nothing happened.

"So? How is he? Last I heard Stanford was going well." Bobby said. The shotglass didn't move. "Is he coming up to help ya'll?"

Dean didn't know what was heavier, the shotglass or his heart. He pushed the glass to the word _No_ and saw Bobby's face immediately fall. His breath changed drastically.

"Probably for the best." Bobby said. "That boy doesn't deserve to throw his dreams away twice."

Another thought popped into Dean's head. A-N-Y G-O-O-D C-A-S-E-S?

Bobby raised his eyebrow and thought for a moment.

"There was this one case where some priest's ghost was possessing people. For a while, I-uh," Bobby laughed, but there was a hint of sadness below the surface. "I thought it might have been an angel. I was wrong, but look at us now. Angels are real and drinking all my gin."

I W-O-U-L-D K-I-L-L F-O-R A B-E, Dean began to spell out but then changed his mind, W-H-I-S-K-E-Y.

"I could give you that easily, if you could drink it." Bobby said. "What exactly are the limitations of being a ghost? That is what you are, right?"

H-E-L-L I-F I K-N-O-W, the letters spelled out. Then Balthazar appeared in the doorway.

"You've been summoned for a battle plan meeting." He said. He raised his empty glass.

"Do I look like a butler to you?" Bobby said, angrily. He started to pick up the ouija board, and spoke to the air.

"You better go if you intend on keeping your word." Bobby said. Dean reluctantly left Bobby, and followed Balthazar.

All the angels had assembled in a disorganized circle. Gadreel had the tv remote in his hand, which Samandriel was clearly bothered by. Castiel was standing, and it was evident that he had been addressing the angels before Dean and Balthazar had walked in. Castiel paused and motioned towards the couch. Balthazar gave Dean a smirk as they sat down next to each other. Dean crossed his arms. Besides Castiel, Hannah was the only one standing. She refused to meet anyone's eyes, except for Castiel's. All her attention was given to him.

"As I was saying," Castiel said, continuing his breakdown, "if Samandriel's spies have the correct information, we can assume that Heaven is keeping the wounded angels in the Prison District, probably Sector 4."

He pointed towards a map that one of the angels had drawn on the wall in sharpie. Dean didn't want to be there when Bobby saw that mess on his wall.

"As you're aware, Sector 4 is one of the most heavily guarded areas in Heaven, next to only Sector 6 and 13." Castiel explained.

"What's in those Sectors?" Dean asked. All the angels tensed, and looked at Castiel. His eyes bulged in shock or fear, Dean wasn't sure.

"We don't actually, um…" Samandriel mumbled. "We don't actually know what's there."

Dean raised his eyebrow quizzically.

"I'm sorry?" He asked.

"No one knows what's there." Samandriel explained. "Not even the highest ranked in Heaven's army. Or if they do they're not telling. Anybody."

"We should stay focused." Castiel said. Dean sensed that he was trying to change the subject. What could possibly be so horrible and mysterious that it could make angels squirm at just the mention of it?"

"Because Sector 4 is so heavily guarded, we'll have to be extra thorough in our preparation. Samandriel, is this the correct layout of the Sector?" Castiel asked, and pointed some sharpie squiggles on the wall. Samandriel nodded.

"In that case, I want all the guard shifts, who, when, where, what time they switch, what weapons they have. Gadreel and Hannah, I need a special forces squadron. Our best angels, our best weapons."

"Castiel," Gadreel said, "you do know that there's a high risk that those angels won't come back. Do we really want to put our best angels out there?"

"Gadreel," Castiel said, "Right now what the rebellion needs is hope. They need to know that we won't abandon them and that Heaven is not invincible."

"Very well." Gadreel said, nodding solemnly.

"And Dean," Castiel said as Dean looked up, "I want you to examine these blueprints and tell me your battle plan."

"Those are your blueprints?" Dean asked. "It looks like a blind three-year old drew them."

"Hey!" Samandriel said. "I was still recovering from fighting Heaven."

"Yes," Castiel said, "they may not be the most fully-rendered depictions of Heaven's layout, but they will tell you what you need to know."

"What about me, your royal generaliness?" Balthazar asked. A small smile tugged at Castiel's face.

"I need you to make the finest distraction Heaven has even seen." Castiel said. "And I need it to risk as few of our soldiers as possible."

"Aye Aye captain." Balthazar said, and gave a little salute.

"Castiel…" Hannah said. "What will you be doing?"

"Bringing the plan together," he said. After a pause, he added, "and searching…"

"For God?" Dean asked, half-jokingly. Castiel nodded solemnly. Dean was shocked at the lack of protest from the angels over Castiel wasting time on such a pointless mission. They opposed every other order, but now they just stared wistfully at Castiel. Dean frowned. They could get their hopes up, but he wasn't going to.

"So, we might as well get planning," Dean said. "No time to lose."

"And in the meantime, I want you all to regain your health. We're going to attack as soon as possible." Castiel said.

With that, everyone dispersed once more. Before Dean could get a word in, Castiel was gone to the wind. Dean frowned. Not that he was sad Castiel was gone, just a little disappointed. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, and instead tried to decipher the sharpie blueprints.

"Balls!" He heard a voice behind him. "Those damn angels."

Dean couldn't help but laugh a little.


	5. Chapter 5

We stop at a church first to pick up weapons. I never thought I'd say _that. _Then we head Uptown. We end up in a rundown neighborhood. One abandoned building jumps out at me, Hotel Dumort. I can't help but giggle a little. Hotel Death. Isabelle gives me a death glare.

"Sorry, it's actually kind of funny." I say, but then remember that I'm supposed to be worrying about Simon dying. To be honest, I know he's not going to die because without him there's no love triangle, and we can't have a story without a love triangle. But I better keep up appearances for the story's sake.

Breaking in is easy enough. Walking silently in heels is not. Isabelle has it down to an art, but alas, I do not. I grip the dagger Jace gave me earlier in the church. I wanted some form of weapon, but everyone else thought I would hurt myself or get in the way so this is all they gave me.

The actual hotel does look abandoned. It reminds me of waiting on line for the Tower of Terror in Disneyworld. Except this is real and there are bloodsucking vampires trying to get revenge on me because I would not let one of them pick me up. Captain Nemo's voice rings in my head, _if you get hurt, you get hurt for real. _I was right about tonight, it is going to _suck_ (see what I did there?)

Anyway, so we creep around for a while but find nothing. Then we see the ballroom. The ruined floor is white marble, now so badly cracked that it resembles a sea of floating artic ice. My gaze is drawn up to the once elegant balconies. At first I'm just admiring the bronze detail, but then I see movement in the shadows. My eyes shoot open.

"Um, guys?" I try to get their attention, but Jace shushes me, "Clary, we're trying to be quiet." They're all focused on the ground floor.

"I think this is actually really important." I try again.

"Clary, so is being sneaky." Jace is not getting my message.

"I REALLY THINK YOU SHOULD SEE THIS."

Finally Jace turns to me, "Clary, _quiet-"_

"LOOK UP!" I yell at the top of my lungs, my shout ringing through the domed ceiling. It echoes back hauntingly as Jace, Alec, and Isabelle all turn to look at the balconies teeming with vampires. One vampire with mocha skin and black hair steps forward.

"Welcome Shadowhunters. I hope you find the view _to die for."_

I can't help but laugh a little at this. Everyone shoots me dagger stars.

"Sorry." I whisper.

"Look, you bloodsucking ba-" Jace begins but I intervene, possibly having a plan.

"Hey, look." I explain. "There's been a silly little misunderstanding. It seems you accidentally took one of my friends home. And you see, I'm not a Shadowhunter, I'm a mundane, and so is my friend. We would be ever so grateful if you just returned him to us, and we'd go on our way, no harm done." I add a little smile just to pull it all together.

The Spanish vampire who seems to be the leader turns around. A moment later the striped suit vampire shows up holding a squirming rat tightly in his hands. "Is this the rat your looking for?" He inquires.

"I can't really see from down here. Let me check. HEY SIMON!" I yell. The rat starts worming even more violently. It's Simon. "Yep, that's him. Now if you could just let him go, that'd be great."

The Spanish vampire starts to laugh and all the other vampires join in, creating a staggering echo effect with the dome that intensifies the laugher, so it seems that there are even more of them.

"Did I say something funny?" I ask, letting a drop of acid drip into my voice.

"You see, little girl, we have no intention of returning your little rat friend back, Shadowhunter or not. You have wronged us and will pay." They laugh some more.

"Alright, look." I say, getting annoyed. "Just because I didn't let your tacky little pinned-striped suit friend invade my personal space, is no reason for _murder_. I mean, come on, do you do this to every girl who rejects you? Maybe that's why no one will date you?! Ever thought of that? All you do is sit in your gross dusty hotel and act like you're the top shit, well, I hate to break it to you, but you are in fact repulsive. Now so help me if you do not release my friend within ten seconds I will kill you." At first they look a little shocked (the striped dude looked a mix of angry and embarrassed) but then the leader starts to laugh and they all join in like the perfect little herd of following sheep that they are. "Fine. Have it your way." I mutter under my breath.

I quickly nod my head at Jace and he makes sure the others get the memo. I wait for the right moment when I can make eye contact with Simon and I mouth one word, _bite._

Immediately, Simon digs his teeth into the leader's hand. The vampire drops him and Simon scurries down to us. I run towards him, pick him up and take cover. "ATTACK!" I hear and hope I'm far enough out of the way. My instincts tell me to make a run for it, but the others are fighting. Finally I decide what to do and stuff Simon in my jacket. "Stay there." I whisper down to him. He answers with a squeak.

I tighten my grip on my dagger. I wait for a vampire to wander close enough to the column I'm hiding behind, and then pounce. I plunge my dagger into where I think his heart should be, and I get lucky. He bursts into ash and I move onto the next. I continue, looking for the others, but find no one. I plunge my dagger into vampire after vampire. Surprisingly these things are easy to kill. It's probably because they're unnamed henchmen.

Just as I raise my dagger to strike again I feel my arm pulled back. An arm appears around my neck and starts to squeeze. I see familiar stripes and know who it is. "How's this for personal space?" I hear whispered into my ear. The edges of my vision are starting to haze. I hear a crash, like shattering glass, reverberate through the room and hear some screams to accompany it. I take my chance, and while the vampire is distracted I bite down hard on his arm. I then kick him repeatedly in the stomach, then head. I see no sign of my dagger anywhere though.

For some odd reason I begin sneezing uncontrollably, and then I look up. Giant wolfs have joined the fight. That's probably why my dog allergies are acting up. If I didn't know any better I would say this is starting to look like Twilight. I'm not sure whose side they're on, but for now I decide to stay away. I see the vampire's leader shouting at one of them, and then notice Jace fighting right next to them. I run over, avoiding sharp fangs and claws, and still suffering through my sneezing fit.

Just as I reach Jace I hear the wolf yell "We came for the girl." The area immediately around us seemed to stop fighting momentarily. "Who?" Asks the vampire.

"The human girl." The wolf flings a stiff arm out at me. I brush it away.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you it's rude to point?" I say. I'm about to say something else but I sneeze.

"You didn't tell me you knew any werewolves." I hear Jace say behind me.

"I don't." I answer simply back, with a sneeze. I hear someone say "God bless you." I look up to see who it was but my thank you is lost when I notice most of the fighting's stopped, and almost every head is turned my way. Isabelle and Alec included, who have somehow managed to rejoin our group.

"You can't have her." The lead vampire says. "She trespassed on our ground; therefore she's ours."

"Technically, it wasn't trespassing just visiting, we were just getting our friend ba-" Jace clasps his hand over my mouth.

The werewolf ignores me and laughs. "I'm so glad you said that." And launchs himself midair. I look at Jace for a plan of action, but for now everyone seems to be ignoring us. Then I notice a door that looks like a convenient exit. I poke Jace and point towards it. He gets my message. We all run towards it as quickly as possible. My instinct proves correct, and behind the door is a convenient flight of stairs.

We begin to climb them, but with every step it seems like it's going to come crashing down. Every few minutes I sneeze, making matters worse. A few moments later I hear from the ballroom "Where'd they go?!" I'm not sure if it's a vampire or werewolf, but honestly I don't care.

A few moments after that two werewolves burst through the door, and I think I can hear a vampire behind them. It doesn't matter though because soon they'll all be here. I hear Jace yell "run" and we all follow his lead. We explode into the night air and I realize we're on the roof. Unfortunately there's no way down.

"What now?" I ask, trying to sound calm while silently freaking out.

"The bikes!" Jace yells.

He says this and I look over and realize that for some reason there are all these motorcycles on the roof. Jace doesn't waste anytime though, just grabs my arm and hops on one of them. Isabelle and Alec jump on the second. I hear the door explode with a crash behind us. I'm afraid to look back. I see Isabelle and Alec have driven off, and for some reason their bike flies. I only hope ours does the same.

But Jace is having trouble starting it. Finally I feel the engine start and we ram forward. Then I feel a tight tug on my leg and grip Jace tighter. I look back and see that stupid striped suit vampire is holding onto my leg. I kick continuously while yelling in rhythm with my kicks, "When will you get it? I AM NOT GOING TO DATE YOU." With my last word I put all my strength into my kick, and the vampire goes flying off.

"I hope that's finally the last I see of him."

"Don't you just hate ex-s?" Jace says, and I can't help but laugh as we follow Isabelle and Alec while riding our flying motorcycle over New York and away from Hotel Dumort.

We all get back fine. Even Simon eventually turns back into a human. And a plus is that my uncontrollable sneezing stops after a while (and a whole box of tissues). So now there's not really that much more to do, so I decide to take the day off. I sleep in late, draw a little, but my mind keeps wandering back to my home.

What happens if I don't make it back? Will everyone just forget about me, think I ran away? Maybe time doesn't pass in here. I think about it all, and miss my comfy bed.

A knock on the door wakes me out of my thoughts. _Probably Jace._ "Come in." I say with a sigh. It's not that I don't think he's charming or handsome, but I have a lot on my mind right now. Plus I'm living a lie, and I wouldn't feel right about it. But surprisingly Simon walks in.

"Drawing?" He asks. I look down at the tree I was sketching.

"Yep." I answer. I move over and motion for Simon to sit down next to me on the bed. He's the closest thing I have to a friend, even if it's only because of Clary.

"So how was being a rat?" I ask, honestly curious. Simon rolls his eyes. "Well, first it was disorienting. I was suddenly ankle-level with everyone. I thought I drank a shrinking potion, but I couldn't figure out why I had this urge to chew used gum wrappers." I laugh. Simon's a funny guy.

I lose my focus for a moment and stare out the window. The day is almost over and the sun is setting. I turn back and Simon's asleep. I don't want to wake him, but I also don't want to sit here till he wakes up. I decide to head to the library, maybe read a book, clear my head.

I'm halfway down the hall, when I hear this really eerie piano music. The notes seem to whirl in spirals through the air, and I follow them. They lead to the library. At first I don't know where they're coming from, but then I see a piano tucked away in a corner. I don't know how I didn't see it in the first place. I see a flash of golden hair bouncing behind it and I know Jace is playing. Figures, the perfect supernatural bad boy who plays piano; it actually does sound a little like Twilight. I'm about to leave, but then I decide that maybe I could give him a chance, plus it does follow the plot (I think).

"That's surprisingly decent. I didn't know you played." I startle him. I sit down on the bench next to him.

"I've been playing since I was little." He answers. He flips his hair in a flash of yellow.

"Well, all that practice has really paid off." There's an awkward silence between us. "Erm, I wanted to thank you, for going after Simon with me. You really didn't have to, and I nearly got us all killed." He looks at the keys of the piano.

"I knew that if I didn't come with you, you'd get yourself killed."

"I don't really think I matter enough to put everyone else's lives at risk." Jace locks eyes with me. He looks surprised, as if it was obvious.

"Clary, you're important. I don't know why you can't see it." I feel a little uncomfortable.

"I'll take that as a compliment." I say, trying to get the lighter atmosphere from a moment ago back. It's not working. This time Jace says something. "Happy Birthday." I'm really confused. It's not my birthday for two months. Oh, wait, _Clary's_ birthday…Right.

"Not until tomorrow." I answer. He smiles.

"There's no reason not to start celebrating now," he says. My stomach grumbles.

"Mind if we get some food first?"

He pulls a brown bag out from nowhere. Where was he keeping it? "I sneaked some food from the kitchen when Isabelle wasn't looking." He say with a mischievous smile. "A picnic? It's a little later for Central Park, don't you think? It's full of-"

He waved a hand. "Faeries. I know."

"I was going to say muggers," I say, "though I pity the mugger who goes after you."

"That is a wise attitude and I commend you for it," said Jace, looking gratified. "But I wasn't thinking of Central Park. How about the greenhouse?" Not loving where this is going, but I'll just go with it.

"As long as there aren't any muggers." I joke.

"I'm not making any promises." With that we leave the library.

We enter the greenhouse, but I'm winded from all the stair and can barely breathe. I need to exercise more. And who puts a greenhouse on a roof?

When I catch my breath I say, "Wow, it really is beautiful. What kind of flowers are these though?" Jace shrugs and sits down next to a glossy green shrub dotted all over with tightly closed flower buds.

"No idea. You think I pay attention in botany class? I'm not going to be an archivist."

"You're right. How foolish of me. I'm sure you don't pay attention in any classes." I smile so he knows I'm kidding, but I still stay standing.

"The only thing I learned was how to make a mean cheese sandwich. Try one," he offers. I hate cheese. But I've been mean enough to Jace already. I reluctantly take one and try to act like I'm really pleased.

"Delicious." I lie. Luckily I think Jace is buying it.

"It's not a birthday cake, but hopefully it's better than nothing." Yeah. I guess that's true. It's the thought that counts.

"I was expecting nothing, so thanks." I still stand there awkwardly.

"Nobody should get nothing on their birthday. Birthdays should be special. My birthday was always the one day my father said I could do or have anything I wanted." Jace says. He should meet my parents. None of this _have whatever you want it's your day_ lies…Although I bet it would be nice to actually have whatever you wanted.

"Anything? What could a five-year old Jace possibly ask for when given anything?" I ask.

"Promise you won't laugh?" He asks. I roll my eyes.

"Not really, but I'll make an exception."

"I wanted to take a bath in spaghetti." I laugh and Jace makes a puppy dog pout.

"How was it?" I ask.

"Incredible. And slippery," he asks. I laugh.

"I know what I'm asking for next year." I say. Then I look down, thinking about how I may never have a birthday next year. I'm kicked out of my thoughts when I hear a bell tolling. "Midnight." Jace says. "Now watch."

He's focused on the green shrub he was sitting next to.

"Wow. Crazy. It looks…_Exactly the same." _I say. He pokes me. "Just watch."

A moment later one of the tightly closed buds began to quiver and tremble. It swells to twice its size and burst open. All of the other buds also began to follow until there is a collage of rainbow petals. It's a little corny, but I'm oddly touched. "Thanks." I look up to find him watching me.

"Happy Birthday, Clarissa Fray." I actually don't know what to say. This is getting a little too romantic for me.

"I have something else for you," he says. Oh no. He's digging into his pockets. Maybe I can still make a run for it. Instead I just stand there with a fake smile plastered on my face as he pulls out a gray stone.

"Huh. When most girls say they want a big rock, they don't literally mean, _a big rock._"

"Very amusing, my sarcastic friend. It's not a rock. It's a witchlight rune-stone."

"So, a rock?" I raise an eyebrow and I see Jace roll his eyes.

"It will always bring you light." I take it and it feels cool in my hands. I drop it into my back pocket.

"I will always treasure your rock." Then there's nothing else to say except "We should probably go back downstairs." I turn to go, then trip on a vine that comes out from nowhere. I feel Jace grab my waist and twist me around, so he's just holding me there. I can feel him leaning in to kiss, but I catch a flash of movement behind a bush and I shriek. Jace tenses up and I feel his hands loosen around my waist. I go falling to floor, and land inches away from a puddle.

"Oww. You dropped me!" I yell from the floor while inspecting myself for damage.

"You yelled in my ear!" Jace says. His cheeks are flushed.

"Oh yeah. I saw someone behind that bush over there." I point in the direction. He raises an eyebrow.

"I'll go check it out." He says. I slowly stand up. My butt is killing me. I can't believe I fought vampires and werewolves at the same time, but I get hurt kissing.

"Nothing's over here." I hear Jace say. I have a nagging suspicion that something _is_ over there and I think I know what. Or who.

I walk over to Jace, but also see no one behind the bush. He must've run off. Or at least moved.

"Come on. Let's go downstairs." Before Jace can reply I just walk away. I feel my cheeks growing hot this time.

We get down to my room. I'm planning on saying a quick goodbye and going to sleep. Jace has other plans. "Thank you for the picnic it was lovely. But I'm really tired right now, so I'm just gonna-"

"You're really tired already? But we were having such a stimulating conversation." He says with a smile. He leans in, and I try to lean away, but the wall is behind me, and before I can stop him, his lips are touching mine. At first it's light and soft, but slowly his passion emerges and then there's a stronger pressure. I don't kiss back, but I don't pull away. Then I hear the door open beside us. I pull away, and Simon is standing right beside us.

"What the hell?" He looks bewildered.

"What do you mean 'what the hell'? Have you never seen someone kissing before?" He doesn't even answer just stares at us with fury. I glance at Jace, and he also seems angry.

"In the future, Clarissa, it might be wise to mention that you already have a man in your bed, to avoid such tedious situations." Jace says.

"Hold up!" I say. "First off, Simon, I am allowed to kiss or make out with whomever I choose. You are not my mother, you do not control my life. And Jace, who ever said that I was going to invite you to into my room, let alone my bed? And _you _were the one that kissed me! How dare you get mad at me for letting Simon sleep in my bed? We were hanging out as _friends._ But I guess that I'm just not allowed to have other friend because all my attention should be devoted to you. And on that point, I'm so sick of you two picking on each other. I don't care if its jealousy or just men being testosterone driven, but frankly, I don't care. Now if you two don't mind, I am _very _tired, so I'm going to bed. If you wish to be pissy about what happened tonight, please do it in the morning." I turn to go. Jace begins, "But-"

I cut him off and reply harshly, "I said, _Goodnight._" With that I slam the door shut. I immediately flop onto my bed ready to take a long nap.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" I hear a voice say. I pry my eyes open and turn around. Good' old Captain Nemo is standing by the door. "They were getting on my nerves, and I'm very tired. I don't know if you've noticed, but I get very snappy when I'm tired." I tell him.

"I was under the impression you're always snappy." Nemo says. Normally I would have gone off on him too, but I'm feeling guilty about being so harsh to Jace and Simon so I just give him a weary smile.

"So are you dropping in on me for fun, or do you have some good news?" I ask.

He walks over toward the chair sitting in the corner across from the bed I'm sitting on. He sits down. "You looked like you could use a hand."

"Are you kidding?" I roll my eyes. "I could have used your help while we were fighting the vampires and werewolves." I yawn.

"Well, luckily you're almost to the climax. It happens tomorrow."

"Finally." I moan. "I'm getting antsy. So what is this 'big climax' anyhow?" I ask.

"You find the cup, that's one thing. Then there's this big confrontation with Valentine"

"That doesn't surprise me." I interrupt. "Sorry, continue."

"There isn't really much more. So far you've done a good job with laying low and avoiding the Editors. As long as you can make it safely through the ending, you should be able to safely jump to the next fanfiction."

"Which is?"

"I don't want to tell you."

"What?! Why not?"

"Um, I just want to leave it a surprise." I am so suspicious, but I just let it slide.

"Alright, whatever. So how do I get to this climax?"

"Oh right. So the cup is hidden within the tarot cards your mother painted for Dorothea. There's a rune that you can use that'll allow you to withdraw the cup from the card. It's really quite simple." I think about it for a moment.

"Ok. Anything else I should know about?"

"Nope. Oh wait! Madame Dorothea's a demon."

"Ok, well, yeah, that would be nice to know." This seems actually kind of simple.

"Great. Now, if you really don't mind, there's a good chance someone is listening, and in that case they probably think I'm crazy. And I'm also really tired, so if you could leave or jump or whatever you call it, that'd be great."

"Of course I don't mind. Every girl needs her beauty sleep. Especially right before the 'big climax'" He says mocking me. I would normally slap him, but I'm too tired, and also when I look back he's gone.

So I lay my head down and instantly fall asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

The sun burns my eyes as I force them open. I'm still in a terrible mood. I just want to stay in bed, but I can't fall asleep and I know I'll just have to get up eventually, so I roll out of bed.

I just leave my pj's on and trudge outside. Thankfully the kitchen is deserted. I grab some cereal and milk, planning to take it to my bedroom. Unfortunately just as I'm about to hightail it out of there, I hear someone opening the door. I turn and it's Jace, _of course._

"Good morning." I try to say as cheerfully as possible. He doesn't answer. "So I assume you're still not over your little tantrum. Whenever you're ready to face me, just let me know." I open the door to go but he doesn't answer. "Fine, be that way. Oh goodness I'd almost forgotten. I've figured out where the cup is hidden. Whenever you guys feel like going after it, I'll be in my room." I think I hear him drop a plate but I don't stay to find out.

I few hours later I hear a knock on my door. It's Hodge. "Hello." I say.

"Clary." He says. There's a long silence before he asks "Where is it?"

Ever the one for drama, I let a moment slip by before answering, "The cup? It's at my apartment."

Once we're all ready to go (Jace is still not talking to me) we meet at the giant wooden main entrance.

"So how are we going to get there?" I ask. There's a long silence. "Are you telling me no one thought about this?" Still no one answers. "Ok, we can't haul it on the subway, it's too valuable. Anyone have a car?" No one answers. "None of you have cars? Are you kidding?"

"We've never needed a car before. Plus it's not like we can exactly get a driver's license, we don't technically exist." Isabelle says, also seeming pissed off at me.

"Fine. I have an idea. You guys got a phone?" A few minutes later I hear Simon pick up the phone. "Hey. I need your help. Wait, scratch that. I need your car and your driving skills." He reluctantly agrees.

After the awkward silence in the car, getting to my apartment is a relief. This should be easy, as long as I can avoid Dorothea figuring out we're after the cup. We get inside and everyone starts walking upstairs. "Where are you going?" I ask and everyone turns back to look at me. "You said it was in your apartment." Jace says, with a little glare.

"I meant apartment _complex._ It's in Dorothea's." I knock on the door and at first no one answers, but then it opens a crack. Dorothea peers out.

"What do you want?" She hisses.

"I just want to get my mother's tarot cards. You see, it's the only thing I have left of her now, and, you know, I'd just like to have them." I say with a pout that hopefully makes her feel some sympathy. She raises an eyebrow.

"Then why do you have Shadowhunters with you?"

"Oh, um, because last time we came here I nearly got killed, and we just want to play it safe." I don't think she's buying it, because she leaves and shuts the door. I look back at them. I'm about to say sorry and that we'll just have to come up with something else, when I hear the door open again and see the deck of tarot cards hit me squarely in the face. I'm not even mad though. I feel a huge smile spread over my face. "Perfect." And I didn't even awaken the demon in Dorothea.

I try the main entrance door, but it's locked.

"Um, Jace you didn't happen to have accidentally locked us in, did you?" I ask nervously.

"Very funny Clary." He says, not believing me. He tries the door and it still doesn't open.

"I don't like this." I murmur. I hear a maniacal laugh from behind me. Yep. I was right. I'm not gonna like this.

"You won't be able to get out of that door." Madame Dorothea growls. "At least, not alive." Suddenly a dark shape rushes to her from her apartment. It strikes at her and she thrusts her arms upward. The dark thing begins to wrap around her. Her back humps monstrously, her whole shape elongating as she rises and rises into the air, her bulk stretching and reforming.

"You really thought I was going to buy that garbage about wanting your mother's tarot cards for sentimential reasons?" She laughs, and her laugh turns into a roar as she completes her transformation.

"Eww." I say in disgust, looking at her. This really pisses her off. "Uh oh." She lunges at me, but Jace jumps in the way. He blocks her claws with his sword dagger thingy. I _knew_ I should have taken a dagger.

Jace begins to slip, but Isabelle thrashes her whip at the demon. It turns and catches the whip midair. It pulls hard on it, sending Isabelle flying. I can see Alec and he looks really mad. He runs to the beast, but Jace has the same idea. The monster swats Alec away and he lands headfirst into Jace's stomach. So now it seems everyone but me is down for the count. Simon is still in the van, but there's no way I can get a message to him from here.

The demon turns back towards me. I feel fear swelling up in my throat but I push it back down. _What to do? What to do?_ Calm down. Focus. _What can I use as a weapon?_ I notice Jace's sword has flung off to the opposite wall. The only problem is the demon is directly in between it and me. I back up against the wall. I feel something cool and metallic rub against my back. _The fire extinguisher._ I can feel the mischievous smile curl up my cheeks. I've always wanted to do this.

"Well, that was quite a transformation." I say. The demon is very close now. _A few more feet. _"To be honest though, your new face is lacking a bit." _Almost there…Perfect. _"Why don't you let me help you with that?" I say as I shoot the foam in its face. It thrashes back and its legs open wide. I take my opportunity and slide head first underneath them.

I reach the sword just in the nick of time. It has just finished wiping off its face and looks angrier than ever. I grip the sword tightly in my hand. It feels awkward and heavy. I grip tighter because my hands are all sweaty. I think back to what Nemo said about dying and getting hurt. This only hardens my resolve. I squeeze the blade. "I am NOT dying here you ugly b-"

The demon interrupts me with a roar. "It is RUDE to interrupt people!" I scream as I run at it. It rakes its claws at me but I swing my sword. I cut it and I swell with pride. This is actually surprisingly easy. Then I notice skin growing over the wounds. _Great. _So it heals itself.

I run at it again, but suddenly the door bursts open. It's Simon. Before I can say anything he pulls out a bow and arrow _(where'd he get a bow and arrow from?)_ and shoots it at the demon. He misses and my heart sinks, but then I realize he wasn't aiming for the demon, but for the skylight above its head. The glass explodes. Sunlight pours in and the demon starts moaning in agony. It turns into black slime and folds in on itself until it's completely disappeared.

"Well done." I say. We help everyone regain consciousness. Luckily no one was badly injured. We all pile into the van and drive back to the institute, with the Mortal Cup successfully in our possession.

The moment we get back everyone rushes in, but I just stay where I am. Simon looks at me expectantly, waiting for me to get out. "Simon, before you get mad, just let me speak." He doesn't say anything so I continue. "Don't ever think I don't care about you, because I do. You are all I have left. I've only known these Shadowhunters for a few days, but I've known you my whole life." Sort of. "I do care about you. I just can't love anyone romantically right now. My life has just turned upside down and I can only focus on getting my mother back." Technically that last part isn't a lie. Whether it's the Clary coming out in me, or if I actually do care about Simon, I want him to know that I care. I clasp his hand and he doesn't pull away. "Simon, just know I do love you. Just not romantically." We sit there for a few minutes not saying anything. Then he looks up and smiles at me. "I know."

I get out of the car. When I get into the library everyone looks really expectant. "Where have you been?" Jace stabs at me with his eyes, as if he knows I was apologizing to Simon.

"I was getting something from my room." I say, which technically isn't a lie. I pull out my sketchbook and flop it on the desk to prove myself. Hodge looks on expectantly, but Jace raises an eyebrow. "What's the point of this?" He asks. I don't answer, just start turning the pages until I find the one with the rune on it. "I remembered this rune so I drew it." I pull out the deck of tarot cards and search through them until I find the one I'm looking for. I can't help but smile. "The stele?" I ask Jace, not looking at him, just staying focused on the card. I feel him reluctantly hand it over. I meticulously begin drawing the rune on with precision. _I hope this works. _

When I'm done I place the card on the table. Nothing happens. Then I remember Nemo saying something about taking it out of the card. So hesitantly I reach in and incredibly I can feel my hands wrap around the cup _inside _the card. I pull it out and stare at it with amazement. Everyone in the room just stares at it for a few moments.

Then Hodge breaks the spell saying, "Isabelle and Alec, go seal off the exit. I don't want anyone to get in here." That's a little suspicious, but I'm sure he just wants to protect the card. Isabelle and Alec run off, leaving Jace and I alone in the library with Hodge. Hodge reaches out his hand for the cup. After a moment I reluctantly give it up. "Maybe you two should go help them." He says.

"I think they're alright on their own." I say, leaking a bit of venom into it. Jace seems a bit confused by my answer, but he also stays. Hodge looks me in the eyes. I see a touch of what? Almost _regret._ Oh no. This is very bad. I don't like where this is going. Hodge has his hands tightly wrapped around the cup. Maybe if I can make a run for it and get Alec and Isabelle they can help us. No, that'd never work. Instead I start inching towards Jace.

Suddenly I hear Hodge whisper something, I couldn't catch what it was though. Then without warning Hugo, Hodge's bird, swoops toward me, separating me from Jace. I grab a lamp directly next to me and swing at the bird just in time. I hear a _caw _and the bird goes down in a flurry of feathers. "JACE!" I shriek. I can't find him until I look down. He is fast asleep like a baby, collapsed at Hodge's feet. I run towards him, but am thrown back. Electricity pulses through me. He must have put up some magical barrier. I stand up, shakily. The world is spinning and I can barely stand. I push myself to stay up though.

"You _traitor_." I hiss at him. "You never notified the Lightwoods, or the Clave did you? You sent Isabelle and Alec out not to barricade demons from getting in, but other _Shadowhunters._ You needed to distract them while you took the cup for yourself."

"Not myself." He says, sounding detached and sorrowful. My eyes narrow into slits.

"_Valentine."_ He nods. Before I can say anything else, the air besides Hodge is shimmering and then it parts like a curtain and a tall man is revealed.

"Starkweather. You have the cup?" Hodge holds the cup up. I bang against the invisible wall some more. Nothing. I can tell the man is Valentine. He and Hodge start conversing but my mind wanders as I try to discover a way around this force field. I try throwing a book. Nothing. A chair. Nothing. It's as if they can't see or hear me. I scream profanities at them. Then I grab the lamp from before and throw it with all my might at the invisible wall. Instantaneously sparks start flying from it and a moment later it bursts. I don't know how I did it, but it worked and that's what counts. Only now I don't know what to do. I stare right at Valentine, and both he and Hodge stare back at me in disbelief.

"How-" Hodge begins, but falters. A pale outline of an idea starts to form in my head. I decide I might as well give it a go.

"Give me the cup." I say, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. Valentine raises an eyebrow, no longer shocked. He starts to laugh.

"And tell me. Why would I do such a thing?" He asks between giggles.

"Because if you give me the cup, _and Jace_, I'll show you where the _real_ cup is hidden." At this he stops laughing and I see his eyes narrow.

"The real cup? Don't try to trick me, _little girl_. I'm not a fool."

I giggle a bit.

"Is something funny?" He asks, again trying to be intimidating.

"I'm sorry." I explain. "It's just so hard to take someone named _Valentine _seriously. I mean, who names a child Valentine." I continue to laugh, and I can tell I'm getting on his nerves. I try to calm down.

"Since you can't take me seriously, I'll just be going." He says, full of rage.

"Very well, it's your choice. But it'd be a shame if you walk away and fail at destroying all the demons or whatever it is you're aspiring to do because you wouldn't listen to a _little girl_." I mock him (no longer laughing). I can see I have him now. "I was suspicious of Hodge when he said he was sending messages to the Lightwoods and the Clave. When I asked him about it he dodged the question. My suspicion grew. I learned that cheap parlor trick of taking drawings and making them real, and I had an idea. I knew I had to make Hodge think I knew the cup was hidden somewhere my mom could get to, and I distinctly remembered one tarot card she drew with a cup on it. From there it was rather easy actually. And just as I thought, Hodge revealed himself a _traitor._" I spit the last word out. "Just give me the cup and Jace and I'll show you where the real cup is."

"Clary-" Hodge begins, but is cut off midsentence by a look from Valentine. He tilts his head to the side and stares at me and if trying to view me from a different angle. "Clary." He mutters to himself. He starts walking towards me. Out of the corner of my eye I see Jace twitch.

I try to back up, but walk against a desk. Just my luck. "Clary. Short for Clarissa, I assume?" I don't like where this is going. I don't answer. "Clary," His face softens, but I can still see the manipulating genius hidden behind his eyes. "I am your father."

I'm silent for a moment. I'm not surprised there's a plot twist like this, I just don't know why I didn't see it before. Then I think about how to use this. I get another twisted idea. "But my mom, how could she lie to me like this? Letting me believe my father is _dead?_" I pretend to be upset, and Valentine comes in to comfort me. "She only did it to protect you, but _yes_. It was wrong of her. But it's alright because I'm here now."

I hug him tighter. I can almost reach the cup that he tucked into his back pocket. Then I notice Jace is gone. Valentine can feel me tense up and he pulls away.

"What's wrong?" He asks, not genuinely worried.

"Um, I just, I just would feel horrible if I tricked my own father into taking the wrong cup! You must believe me. The cup you have is a fake, and if you would just-"

Suddenly Jace jumps out with a sword and holds it at Valentine's neck. Valentine doesn't even look mad. "Jace. Please put the sword down." Jace looks a bit confused and then looks at me as if waiting for an answer. Valentine also looks at me as if he's waiting for me to tell Jace. "Oh, um, yeah Jace you can put the sword down." Hopefully Jace buys what Valentine is going to tell him so I can continue on with my plan.

"Jace." Valentine begins. "Clarissa is my daughter." I try hard not to laugh as Jace's jaw drops to the floor. "And Jace you are my son." Hold up.

"He's your SON? So then I'm his SISTER? Oh god, oh god, and we were _making out_. Oh this is _so so _wrong. It's like an even more twisted version of Game of Thrones because we didn't even_ know_. Oh _god._ And you were going to come into my _bed._ Oh god." I freak out to myself as Jace tries to absorb it all. "I'm going to puke! You might have warned us a little _earlier._ Some help you are. Oh god, _so gross."_

Jace drops the sword to the floor. I stop ranting to stare at him. He's pale as a ghost and is starting to tilt. Valentine helps him into a chair. "Daddy?" I say, really hamming it up. "I think you should really give me the cup so we can go get the real one. Isabelle and Alec will be coming in any moment now." Jace looks confused at this. I don't want him to start contradicting me though and messing up all my plans, so I try to subtly tell him, "Isn't that right Jace? _That I just pulled a cup from a random tarot card to prove Hodge was a double agent?" _He stills looks confused, but luckily he just nods his head.

Valentine begins to hand it over, but Hodge interrupts him. I'd forgotten he was still here. "Valentine. I didn't know I sw-" Valentine only looks at him like he's looking at yesterday's garbage. Disgusted. He hands the cup over to me. "Great." Uh oh, now I need to come up with a fake real cup. What? "It's in, um, my room, yeah. I'll show you." We start walking towards the great doors of the library, when suddenly they burst open. A wall of wind slaps us, even though they don't connect outside.

Then I see the men in white suits. They look almost futuristic and I know immediately they don't belong here. They must be the Editors. _Oh no. Shit shit shit. _I see them all lock their sights on me and sprint in my direction.

I don't know what to do. I turn away. I hear my name shouted in the background. I run in the opposite direction, but only a great window that overlooks the busy city streets lay ahead. No exit.

I push over bookshelves and desks, and anything I can find, but they're catching up. Thankfully this is a really big library and I can probably run for a while before hitting a dead end. Valentine, Jace, and Hodge just stare in disbelief/confusion. The Mortal Cup is still in my hands. I quickly examine my situation and know there's only one way out.

I pick up speed and sprint towards the back wall. I throw the cup in front of me cracking the window and exploding fragments of glass that bend the light everywhere. I hear a gasp from someone behind me (probably Valentine crying about his precious cup). I just run forward. I reach the end and with all my might I jump onto a desk and propel myself into the night sky. _Please work, please work_. I pray. I scream but my cries are lost into the night. I think I can hear Jace screaming my name, but it is so faint it could also just be the wind. The Mortal Cup is somewhere below me, but it's the least of my worries. I only stare up at the broken window and the Editors leaning out from it, and I instinctually spread my arms like wings, and slowly it all fades away into blackness.


	7. Chapter 7

My head is killing me. _My head is killing me._ Does this mean I'm alive? I hear noises of something shuffling around me. I slowly pry my eyes open. _I don't understand. _I'm standing in a giant plaza. There are people zigzagging all around me. Maybe heaven this is heaven. Not really like I pictured it. This place looks familiar. Wait a moment. I'm in Grand Central Station. That means I'm alive! I survived! That means it my jump worked and I'm in another story. What story is this? Maybe I'm in a fanfiction?

I realize I'm lying on the floor. I start to get up, but a hand jumps out in front of me. "Ahcak!" I say, no making coherent noises. I look up. The hand is attached to an arm, which is attached to a body. The man looks down at me concerned. "Are you all right Miss van der Woodsen?" I realize he's talking to me. "Oh, um, yes." I take his hand as he helps me up. "Thank you very much."

"My pleasure, Miss van der Woodsen." He's wearing what looks like a butler uniform. Could he be a butler? _My _butler? Where am I?

He stares at me, as if waiting for a command. "Um, right, as you were." I say, trying to sound official. It sounds stupid even to me. The butler gives me a confused glance, and then conceals it, as a good butler should.

Suddenly I hear a bodiless female voice. She's talking about someone named Serena, boarding schools, and she calls herself the _gossip girl._ What…Could it be? No, no way. I probably miss heard her.

I notice that my clothes have changed. What am I _wearing?_ The short mini skirt and low cut shirt are not something I would ever be caught dead wearing. I'm also wearing knee high boots. Beside me are two suitcases. I go to grab them, but the butler takes them before I can. "I'll take care of these Miss van der Woodsen. An heiress such as yourself shouldn't have to stress herself over such tedious things." I'm an heiress?

"Right of course, Jiles." I say. Jiles sounds about right for a butler. Jiles only gives me another confused glance. Out of the corner of my eye I see a familiar boy leaning on a rail. "Would you excuse me for a moment, Jiles?" He gives me another confused look before I walk away.

When I get to Nemo I follow him to the bathroom. "That was quite a stunt you pull off back there. I see you met the Editors."

"Yeah. And I would like to not meet them again." I say.

"Well, if you don't go messing around with the story, you won't."

"I wasn't! I was just doing what felt natural. Following my instinct."

"Clearly that is a lie."

"It is not!"

"Is to."

"Is not."

"Is to."

"_Is not._"

"Is to."

"_IS NOT!_" I yell. He says nothing for a moment.

"Is to."

"I'm gonna kill you!" I lunge at him. Suddenly a woman emerges from a stall. She gasps. "Oh madam. Sorry. I wasn't talking to you. Just, um, talking to myself." I say. She still looks horrified and scampers out. "Whoops." I say. Nemo starts laughing at me. "Smooth." HE says sarcastically. I'm about to lunge at him again, but think better of it.

"So where am I?" I ask. He suddenly looks stressed.

"Promise you won't try to kill me again?" I roll my eyes.

"Please. It can't be _that _bad." He makes a face. "Oh." I murmer. "Fine. I promise I won't try to kill you." He smiles.

"Good. Then in that case, you are in Gossip Girl." For a moment it doesn't absorb.

"I'm sorry. What? I must have heard you wrong, I thought for a moment there you said I was in-"

"Gossip Girl. Yeah. That's what I said." I tense up. I just stare at him. I can feel my eye twitch a bit in annoyance. "Gossip Girl?"

"Gossip Girl." I take a moment. "GOSSIP GIRL?!" I exclaim, losing it. "I'm in Gossip Girl? Of all the fandoms… I've never even seen it to know that it's horrible!"

"Hey, it's not that bad if you give it a chance. It's actually very well written." My anger stops for a moment. "Are you telling me _you _watch Gossip Girl?" I ask in disbelief.

"I don't _watch_ it, or _read_ it, but it's actually a fun story to be in. And yes, it is very well written." I don't answer. I just sulk to myself. I _had_ to end up in Gossip Girl, just my luck.

"Did you get any souvenirs?" I hear Nemo ask, snapping me out of my tantrum.

"What's a souvenir?" I ask.

"Sometimes you get to keep a small momentum from a story. It stays with you for a while, but as you get further from the story, it fades away." _Cool,_ I think, remembering all the epic swords and weapons from The Mortal Instruments. I notice a hard weight in my back pocket. I get excited. I reach back and-"A rock?"

"No. It's the witchlight Jace gave you."

"So, a rock?" Nemo rolls his eyes. "I guess I'll keep it, maybe it'll come in handy in the future I say, slipping it into my back pocket. Thinking about the rock reminds me of Jace. I get a pit in my stomach.

"What are you thinking about?" Nemo asks.

"What happens to the people, um, characters, after you leave?" I ask, trying to sound unconcerned, but I can hear the serious tone behind my voice. Nemo can hear it too.

"Jace will be fine. The Editors will erase all their memories and reset the story. It takes a while, based on how much damage was done. That's why The Outsiders took such a long time." He explains. I giggle, remembering how everyone thought I was insane. I did too. I still do.

I feel better knowing Jace won't be harmed. I just need to get through Gossip Girl. It shouldn't be too hard. I can do this. One step closer to getting home.

"Alright. So who am I exactly? I'm not very familiar with this fandom."

"You are Serena van der Woodsen. Your mother is incredibly rich, and you live in a penthouse. Your brother recently tried to commit suicide but your mom doesn't want anyone to know. You went to boarding school and have decided to come back. Blair is your best friend and is dating Nate, who you had sex with a few summer ago-"

"I made love to my best friend's boyfriend?" I ask incredulously.

"Who have been going out since kindergarten."

"Jesus." This is one _messed up _girl.

"Blair is suspicious and jealous of you because you are fabulous and everyone wants to be you."

"You're too kind." I joke.

"Hilarious." Nemo says sarcastically. "And Chuck is a man whore. He will have sex with any girl who crosses his path, especially you because you're hot."

"Lovely." It's my turn to be sarcastic. "So what's with the bodiless voice then?"

"Oh. That's the gossip girl. She has a website where she posts gossip about people. No one knows who she is, or if it even is a girl. For all we know gossip girl could be a guy. And she should be posting gossip about you being back any moment now."

"Alright, anything else I should know?" He takes a moment to think.

"Not that I can think of."

"Ok. As long as no one unexpectantly turns into a demon, I should be all right." I turn to go, but stop as I catch a glance of myself in the mirror. I instinctively grimace_._ My hair is still red, but has begun to shade to blonde. Unfortunately my skin has gotten much tanner and it looks frightening against my hair. My cheek bones have gotten higher. Overall I just look like a mismatched freak. Hopefully everyone else sees me as a normal Serena. My stomach turns. I've only been here a few minutes. Luckily I can still recognize myself (a little). I just wish I had my good old normal not unnaturally tan face back. I get a sense of dread about losing myself, but shake it off.

"Bye Captain Nemo." I joke.

"Just Nemo."

"Oh come on, can't I call you Captain Nemo?"

"No."

"Alright then, bye." I open the door and leave. Then I jump back. "Captain." I say. He looks annoyed. I leave before he can say anything. That's payback for being so annoying before.

Jiles leads the way to a fancy stretch limousine. We ride it to an even fancier penthouse on the Museum Mile. Honestly, I can get used to this. I have literally everything I could ever want. I'm in the middle of chilling on my fancy new bed, watching my fancy new TV, when Serena's mom comes in. She says something about going to a party. I tell her that I'd rather just stay here and bask in the glory of all my lovely things, but she will have none of it. She says it will be a great opportunity to announce my official return, and that's the end of the conversation.

I look through the closet, but end up getting lost. To be fair, it's gigantic and basically a labyrinth. After twenty minutes I find my way out, but still have no dress. I don't want to wander to far back in, but I still need a dress. Although, maybe I can just wear some jeans and a sweatshirt. Unfortunately, after twenty more minutes of searching for a sweatshirt in Serena's gigantic multiple drawers I find some suitable jeans, but still no sweatshirt. Then Serena's mom comes back in.

"Where's your dress sweetie?" She asks.

"I couldn't find one. I was just going to wear jeans and a sweatshirt." She looks at me in horror, and then laughs.

"Very funny. But really, where's your dress?" I just stare at her. "I was just about to go get one." I lie. She smiles. "Great." Then walks away.

I stare at the entrance to the closet. "Noooo…" I mumble. Then sigh and give in. Luckily I find a dress that is cute and also not incredibly short. I make it back into the bedroom and put it on. It's a deep red high-low skirt with a lacey trim. I navigate my way to the living room where I find my mother. We leave, but I'm in a terrible mood for this party.


	8. Chapter 8

We get to the party. It's on the top floor of a fancy New York apartment building. I skim the crowd, but see no one I know. Unlike in _The Mortal Instruments_ I don't have any of Serena's memories. I do have a vague feeling that everyone knows me, though. It feels like they're all talking about me. I look back, but Serena's mom is gone and I'm all alone.

"Serena van der Woodsen!" I hear behind me. I turn and see a woman racing towards me as she embraces me. "What a lovely surprise!"

She squeezes me tighter. "I-I can't breathe." I get out. She loosens up.

"Sorry dearie. But I'm just so excited."

"It's fine. It's, um, great to see you." I fake a smile. She jabbers on about good old times and Blair and I miss most of it because she's talking so fast. "Hello, hello, hello!" And then she's talking to Serena's mom, who had reappeared. I try to slip away while they rush into a conversation. Unfortunately all the other parents have started hugging and welcoming me. _Who are these people? _Jeez, this girl is popular.

"Got you a drink." I hear behind me. It's a boy. He's elbowing the clusters of parents out of the way. "Welcome back." He adds, ducking down to kiss my cheek and missing it intentionally, so that his lips landed on mine.

"Do I know you?" I ask in shock. He looks back at me also shocked. Before he can answer I take a step away from him. I'm so tempted to explain to him why kissing people without their consent is wrong and if I wanted to I could report him for sexual harassment. But I remember that Serena probably wouldn't say that. So instead I just say coolly, "And I don't drink." I don't know this guy, but I can tell already that I don't like him.

Then I catch sight of two people across the room. A very handsome boy and a girl tailing behind him stare back at me.

"Who's that?" I ask the guy from before. He stares at me in confusion again.

"Nate and Blair? Your best friend and her boyfriend?"

I take a moment to remember who he's talking about. Then I remember the little summary that Nemo gave me. Oh, then the guy next to me must be Chuck. Captain Nemo was right, Chuck _is _a man whore.

I look back at Blair and Nate, but they're gone.

"So, what have you been up to?" I hear behind me. I jump. I turn, and there's Blair and Nate.

"Oh, hi. Sorry. I guess I'm still a little skittish from _The Mortal Instruments_." They look at me with confusion, and I don't think it's possible for Chuck to look any more confused than he is. _Did I say that out loud? _

"I mean, um, I'm skittish from, um, _The Mortal Instruments_. It's a movie, yeah, this really scary movie that I just watched. It's horrifying."

Blair raises an eyebrow in disgust (guess she's not a horror movie fan?), Nate is still goo-goo eyeing me, and I think I just broke Chuck. I think back about what Nemo said about me messing up _The Mortal Instruments_ and _The Outsiders_. _Oh no, he was right. _No. I'm not going to mess this up. I look again at Blair, Nate, and Chuck, and they seem to be buying it. Whew, _nice save. _

"We missed you." Nate says.

"I missed you two, too." I lie. I don't know where to go from there. I was never good at small talk…

Then Nate holds up his glass, "Who wants another?" I wish I could fill awkward silences as naturally as him. "I'll make them." He says.

Everyone raises their hands, except for me. Nate looks at me, confused. "You're not going to drink?" He asks.

"Oh no, I don't drink." They all stare at me. _Way to mess up again. _"I mean I don't drink anymore." I add a smile. They stare for another moment, then just let it go.

Then Serena's mother reappears. "Serena, Eleanor would like us all to sit down. She made an extra place next to Blair for you, so you two girls can catch up." _Wonderful._

I trudge over to where Blair is sitting. The seat right beside her has my name on it. I reluctantly sit down. Before I can say anything a woman comes over and offers me a drink.

"No thank you." I simply say. If these people want to drink, they can go right ahead but why don't they understand that I am legally a minor and _don't want to drink?_

My palms are starting to feel all gross and sweaty. I was never good at small talk, especially not with the "popular crowd". I really just liked to stick to my friend group. A wave of homesickness mixed with nausea crashes over me. My friends. My home, my school, all gone now. The worst part is I try to recall what the name of my school is, or _was_, but I can't. This only makes me feel worse and I now have a headache. I need to take my mind off this.

"So Blair, um, how've you been? I've missed you so much!" I say over exaggeratedly, trying hard to show that I care. Blair doesn't appreciate my enthusiasm though and just rolls her eyes as if I wasn't sitting right next to her.

"Fine." She mumbles under her breath. I feel the anger well up inside of me. _Don't say anything, stay calm, stay calm, _I tell myself. I know that if I mess this up I may never get home, but this girl is asking for it. I take a deep breath.

"Fine? That's it?" I say. I don't even know why I do it but I really want to get back at Blair and I blurt out, "I guess it's no fun around here without me." I add a condescending smile just to piss her off. I see anger flare in her eyes.

"Well, we can't all be sluts like you." That's it. I stand up and tower over Blair.

"How dare you." I say, drawing every eye on the room to me, and I don't even care. "How dare you accuse me of being a slut. You have no proof to go on but _rumors_. And not even creative rumors. It's called _slut-shaming _and when you equalize a woman's worth to her sexual activities you are degrading her and all other women. Calling me a slut as a means to harm me and my reputation and elevate yourself, hurts everyone. It keeps women oppressed by limiting their freedom which men can experience without any negative repercussions. A woman has just as much a right as any man to have sexual intercourse with anyone and as many people as they want without being shamed for it."

Everyone in the room has their eyes fixed on me, but I just hosed everything up and might as well go all out at this point. I jump up onto my chair and on the table.

"And it's not just Blair, its all of you." I say, really hamming it up. I raise my arms and circle motioning to everyone. "You are all so content to sit safely in your high towers and look down and judge everyone below you. That's all you do with your lives. You have a chance to do something with this privilege you've been given. All this money you have and you do what? You throw extravagant parties that mean nothing. They're just a chance to flaunt your power. _Pathetic."_ I spit out. I reach down and grab a candlestick off the table.

"Tell me how much was this? $100, $200, $1000? Blair, tell me how much was that dress you're wearing. $2000, $5000? A dress you're only ever going to wear once. And how many other dresses do you have just sitting in your closet? And I'm just as bad. As I was getting ready for this party I literally got lost in my closet. For a good fifteen, twenty minutes. That's how big my closet is." I gaze out over them all dramatically. I've completely killed all my chances of passing for normal, and I don't care anymore.

"All I'm saying is if we focus our money and influence on something important, something worthwhile, we can change the world. I know it. We can leave something helpful on this Earth when we die. Something that actually means something." Everyone is silent. I'm not sure if they're in scared or in shock.

"Wow that was pretty inspiring." I hear Nemo say behind me. I turn to look at him. He now has red spiky hair and seems lanker and taller.

"New look?" I ask mockingly.

Of course no one else in the room can see or hear Nemo, so I'm pretty sure that if they thought I was mad before, they must think I'm freaking insane now. Oh well.

"I picked it up in the Capital." He says.

"Capital, like the Hunger Games?" I ask. He nods.

"Who the hell are you talking to?" Chuck asks impatiently.

"None of your business, and I would watch that mouth of yours if I was you." I turn back to Nemo.

"So what now?" I ask. He shrugs.

"You can't really jump safely without a proper climax. At least not at your amateur level." I roll my eyes.

"So what am I supposed to do?" I ask. He shrugs again.

"No idea. You could wait it out I guess, but you really screwed with the plot line this time, so…"

"Some help you are." I mumble under my breath.

"That's it." Chuck says standing up. "I'm not going to just sit here while this crazy girl-"

I "accidentally" knock his glass of red wine onto his pants. "_Ooo._ Sorry about that. Those pants looked expensive. And that's red wine." I say sarcastically. I'm really enjoying this too much.

Suddenly I hear a commotion coming from the next room over which I think is the kitchen. The door is opened a crack. I lean over to catch a view and see a flash of white move across it. I tense up and look at Nemo. "Editors."

I see him tense up too.

"Why are they here so soon? What do we do?" I ask revealing a little of my fear. I can see in his eyes he doesn't know. I quickly rack my brain. Then I get an idea.

"Alright fine. If I can't make it to the author's climax, I'm just going to have to have to make my own." I reach down and grab a pie off the table. Just as the first Editor enters I pull back my arm and then propel it forward with as much force as I can. It hits him squarely in the face. "_Score."_ I say involuntarily.

"What the hell?" Chuck says. "Who the hell are they?" He gives me another idea.

I jump down and grab him by the waist. I grasp him as dramatically as I can, and it looks like we've just finished a tango dance of some sort. "Chuck, my darling. How have I lived without you all this time? I want you to know I've always loved you and always will." I say like the overly dramatic women on soap operas.

Then I lean in and kiss him as passionately as I can. His breath stinks of wine but I hold back my gag. I'd rather take one for the team then let those Editors get me. I spin him back up and he nearly collapses (I guess I'm just that great a kisser) but I hold him up. Then I begin to fake tears. "You _bastard,_ how could you? It's over between us." I say and slap him squarely across the face. It leaves a red welt. I can't help but smile a little.

I steal a glance at the Editor. I'm lucky because he seems to be down for the count and his body is blocking the way for the other Editors. I still have a few seconds. People have already started to panic and run away. The room is in chaos. I cross over to Nate and Blair. "Blair I just want you to know that Nate and I had _sex_ and we love each other and we're going to run away and elope. Isn't that right Nate?"

Then I repeat what I did to Chuck to Nate. "You _bastard._" I say, trying hard not to laugh. I know my life may be potentially in danger, but the absurdity of it all makes me giggle. "I can't believe you cheated on me. I thought you were the one!"

Just as I finish slapping Nate across the face I glance over at the Editors. They've finally cleared the body off to the side. I realize my time is out. I make a run for the door. I take one last look back. "It's been fun and I'd love to stay, but I've gotta run." And I bolt out the door down the hallway.

I hear the door open behind me and a lot of shouting. I don't dare look back. I keep running, but then trip head first over my feet. One of my heels has broken. I don't have time to do anything so I rip them both off and then throw them as hard as I can at my pursuers. One of them misses, but the other hits one right in the face. He goes down and takes the man behind him with him.

I keep running. I come to an intersection. Stairs or elevator? Stairs, obviously. I notice the thick bannister leading down. I smile. This is also something I've always wanted to do. I jump up and start sliding down the railing, butt first and clutching the bannister. I can hear the Editors behind me, but I think they're falling behind.

I finally reach the lobby. I run up to the desk clerk. "There's a fire on the seventy fifth floor! And those men over there are responsible. Call the police, have them arrested!" I scream at him and then run off. He'll figure out eventually that I've been lying, but at least it'll slow down the Editors a bit. Hopefully.

I run out into the cool New York City air. I don't really know my way around and I'm suddenly at a loss for ideas. The thrill from a moment before is gone now, replaced with panic. What other things can I do to make a climax? Jump off another building? Maybe, but if that doesn't work then I'm cur-splat. And I'd rather not take that chance. Then I see the flashing light on the top of the Empire State Building. I decide it's better than staying here and would make a hell of a good spot for a climax. I wave for a taxi.

One pulls over and I hop in. "Empire State Building. Now. If you can get me there in less than two minutes I'll pay you double." The driver's eyes widen and he slams on the gas. We shoot forward. I was never one for car rides and I'm already feeling queasy. I focus on the scenes flashing past us. I can barely make anything out. I notice it's begun to drizzle though. I look back out the front. I can see tall skyscrapers rising up all around us. The Empire State Building is very close now.

I realize I have nothing to pay him with though. I quickly search my pockets, but to no avail. In fact, I don't even have pockets on this dress. Then I remember I'm wearing a golden bracelet. It looks pretty expensive to me, hopefully the taxi driver agrees. We suddenly pull to a quick stop. I nearly summersault out the front window, but luckily I'm wearing my seatbelt. I hand the bracelet over.

"Take this. And keep driving as fast as you can. I don't care where, just get out of here as soon as you can." And I hop out. As soon as my feet have touched the pavement, he's already out of sight, streaming down the crowded NYC streets. I quickly glance around but see no sign of the Editors. I run inside the building.

Thankfully it's still opened and not that crowded. The floor is cold against my bare feet. I glance around and see some people waiting for an elevator. I have no time to wait though. I push through to the front of the line where a guard is filtering people onto the elevators.

"Sir," I say as innocently as possible. I make my eyes really big and pout my lips. "I've seemed to have lost my parents. I think they've went up on the elevator without me. Wouldn't you _please_ let me on?"

He looks kind of skeptical. "How old are you?" he asks. I hear a commotion as the Editors enter the building. I start to panic a bit.

"Um, I have a glandular condition that makes me appear older than I am." I say. He's still looking skeptically at me as the elevator doors open up. It's clear he's not going to let me in, at least not before the Editors get me, so I do something crazy. I lunge out at his belt and grab his keys that pilot the elevator. "Sorry I've got an elevator to catch." I say and jump inside.

The doors close just as the Editors push through. I see the anger on one of them. I think he may have been the one I hit with my heel. His face disappears as the elevator begins to climb up. I'm all alone. The capsule is silent except for my heavy breathing and the occasional drip from my wet hair. By the time we had arrived at the building it was pouring, so I had gotten a little wet.

_What do I do now?_ I guess I just need to take things one at a time. First, I need to stop/slow down the Editors. They'll be coming up in an elevator after me, so if I could somehow halt it then I could buy myself sometime. Okay that seems simple enough in theory. I guess I could just look for a power box or something and shut off the power to the elevator. The only problem is that I'm no electrician and I'd rather not get myself killed. I listen to my racing heart for a moment.

Where's Nemo? I could really use his help right now. I'd kind of lost track of him in the chaos at the party. My thoughts are halted by the click as the elevator reaches the top floor. The doors open and I run out into the cold hallway. It's empty. I guess everyone left for the end of the day. And maybe because it's also raining heavily outside now. _Focus. _

I run down the zig-zagging corridors. I only have so long before the Editors arrive on the 102nd floor. I turn a corner and suddenly I'm back at the elevators. My heart sinks. No, no, no. I begin to run in the opposite direction, but then notice a bronze square next to one of the elevators. I run over to it. It's screwed in, but I just kick it in really hard. Surprisingly it works. I rip off the plate and throw it to the ground. The crash echoes though the empty hallways.

Inside the panel is a labyrinth of different wires and plugs. I have no wire cutters and I have no idea which plug to pull. I begin to hyperventilate. Then I notice a big red switch over on the side. Perfect. I reach for it. It's stuck. _Please work, please work. _I pull harder and it suddenly gives way. I pull it down and suddenly all the lights go off and I hear the whir of the elevator stopping. I pull back just as a bolt of electricity explodes in my face. I'm unharmed, but badly shaken.

"It worked…IT WORKED!" I scream with joy. Now I just have to figure out an exciting climax. Hopefully I can safely jump from this world to the next and be done with the Editors.

I run to the gift shop and search for anything helpful. It's hard to see in the dark, but I remember I have the witchlight rune-stone thingy: The glowing rock Jace gave me. With my newly found rock I begin to explore the gift shop. All the little knickknacks and snowglobes look eerie in the light.

The only things helpful I can find are an umbrella, a rubber band, a statue of king-kong climbing the empire state building, and some mentos. I can use the umbrella as a weapon. And I successfully use the Y shape of the statue and the rubber band to make a sling-shot. I test it out with the mentos as ammo and it works surprisingly well. Now I just have to figure out a climax.

I wander to the windows to gaze out over the great city. I can barely see anything through the fog and rain. Suddenly I hear something. I crouch behind a shelf. I peer out and see the white feet of the Editors. I count five pairs of feet. They walk into the gift shop. I look for the nearest exit, but it leads out into the veranda. It'll have to do.

I fling a mento to the opposite side of the room. It smashes into a snowglobe. The Editors quickly turn to go investigate it. I turn to make a run for it, but suddenly a silver pole comes flying at my face. I thrust my umbrella up to meet it, but the force knocks me to the floor. I roll away just as the Editor slams it into where my head was.

I quickly stand up and start to back away. He pick up his pole thing and holds it up. I notice him press a button and I suddenly hear a sizzling noise. _Oh geez. _This thing is electrified. I realize my umbrella won't be able to do anything against it. I start shooting mentos at him though. They don't hurt him much though, only irritate him further. I take a chance and throw my umbrella at him. He ducks out of the way, but it gives me a moment to run.

He hadn't realized but I had slowly been backing to the door. Now, I throw the doors open and run into the pouring rain. But my heart sinks as I come to the realization that I just cornered myself. This is the end. My parents will wonder what happened to me. I'm sure there'll be a search, I'll be pronounced disappeared, probably dead. I wonder what my funeral will look like. Will my mother cry? My father? Were they sentimental? I can barely remember. I have only the faintest memories of them crying at my graduation. Or was it my sister's graduation? Did I even have a sister?

I've backed up into the tall spears encircling the outside. _There's no way I can climb that._ I think hopelessly. Then I realize that it's raining and the Editor's stick thing is electrified. I wasn't always the smartest in school but I remember something about water and electricity not going well together.

Before I can say anything though, the Editor steps out into the freezing weather and suddenly starts convulsing the moment his pole brushes against a puddle on the ground. I start to do something, but realize that I'd probably only get in the way or get myself killed. I pull myself away from his twitching body and start to run along the outside of the perimeter.

I know the only way out is to jump, but I really don't think that's going to work anymore. But it's the only idea I have left, so I start to climb up one of the viewing telescopes. I make it to the top, but the metal is very slippery. I summon all my courage and start to climb the tall poles. They start to curve in at the top. The rain is pelting my face, but I keep climbing. I reach the top, and I fling my leg over. I think I can hear shouts from the other Editors, but I block it out. I have to focus. My wet hair snags at my face and my party dress (now horribly ruined) flies about freely in the wind.

I use all my strength and finally pull myself over. Just as I do, my hands slip. I try to grab the railing, fear pulsing though my veins. I know I have to jump but I instinctively grasp for a handhold. I'm able to grab onto the edge for a moment, but my fingers slip off and I'm falling.

My heart is racing and I can't breathe. I'm going to die like this…At least the Editors didn't get me though. But I never got to say goodbye to Nemo. Or Jace. Or my mom or dad or any of my friends. I squeeze my eyes open and I can swear I can see Jace's face poking through the bars looking down at me. The agony on his face tears me to pieces. I shut my eyes. It couldn't be him. I'm hallucinating.

Suddenly I feel an edge of the building race by beside me. _That was too close._ My fear is rejuvenated and I start to worry about hitting the building. I feel tears stream down my face, but I'm not sure if their mine, or if it's just the rain. I squeeze my eyes closed tighter, almost as if it will stop the pain of falling. All I can think is _goodbye cruel world._

I can feel the ground racing up at me and I know it hasn't worked. The temperature drops twenty degrees. But suddenly I feel as if I've slowed down and I'm enveloped in a soft white cloud. The breath is knocked out of me, but at least nothing hurts. I guess this is what heaven feels like. Heaven's awfully cold though. I feel something wet on my face. I reach up to swipe at it, but my hand is all wet too. I force my eyes open, but all I see is whiteness.

I slowly sit up and the world around me spins. As it begins to slow down I realize I'm in a forest. _Could I be in Central Park?_ No. Impossible. This forest is covered in snow, and seems much thicker. There are no walkways or benches either. And this forest just seems…I don't know, magicky. Call me crazy but that's the only way to describe it.

I peer down and realize I'm not sitting in on a cloud, but in a pile of snow. Does that mean…? It worked!YES! I'm ALIVE! Thank you god. I almost begin laughing at the wonder of it all, but I'm still out of breathe so I just end up panting. I'm alive…But the real question is…Where am I?

8


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow, OKAY SO HUUUUUGE APOLOGIES. First, I've been going back and doing grammar and editing and whatnot, and I realized this chapter is missing a page! So it makes no sense! I'm super sorry about that! Secondly, I accidentally uploaded the wrong chapter 8. It was to my other fanfiction (that you should totally check out if you watch supernatural!) But anyway, so that should be fixed now. Many many many apologies. If anyone out there notices anything else that doesn't seem right, don't be afraid to pm me! I'm always scatterbrained so I'm sure there's some more mistakes out there!**

**Alright, now enjoy this (FIXED) chapter!**

I examine the surrounding area. It seems I've landed in the middle of a wintry forest without another soul in sight. And no sign of Nemo. Speaking of which, I am REALLY annoyed at him for bailing out on me in Gossip Girl. That was _so _not cool. Unfortunately for me I need him to get out of here (though I hate to admit it). I guess I can only yell at him a little. He lucked out this time…

But seeing as he's not here right now, it looks like it's all up to me. I dig myself out of the pile of snow. I giggle at the shape of a body left imprinted in the snow. Jeez, it's like some sort of weird disfigured snow angel. And that's not all that's weird. I look up and down at myself and stifle a laugh. I'm in a white dress that fades to blue at the bottom and am enveloped by a giant fluffly coat. I am strictly against real fur coats because they cause innocent animals to die, but right now I'm freezing and I guess I just have to suffer until I can find a different coat. And when I get home (if I get home) I'm writing a very strongly worded letter to whatever character I am.

While we're on the topic, who am I? Judging from the ice spikes coming out of my hair and the wand at my side, I'm going to go ahead and assume I'm an ice wizard of some sort. Unless those spikes are supposed to be a crown. Then I guess I'm an ice queen. Okay. So what Ice Queens do I know? Elsa? I wish, but no. I'm not wearing the right outfit. Ice Queen from _Adventure Time_? Nope. Could I be that girl from _Shark Boy and Lavagirl_? If so, then I'm out of here- Wait a minute… I'm the Ice Queen from _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_. Duh. Geez, sometimes I guess I can be really thick. Oh well.

Cool. So I'm the Ice Witch and I'm in Narnia. What now? Suddenly I hear some jingling noises. I see a sledge weaving through the trees.

"Santa?" I ask in amazement. At this point even Santa showing up wouldn't shock me. But alas, as it comes into view I see a dwarf steering it, and no jolly man with a white beard. The sledge comes to a halt in front of me. The dwarf steps out and takes a very deep bow.

"Your highness."

"Umm…Yep. That's me." He stays bowed for a few seconds as if waiting for me to say something. He looks up at me confused. I've been getting a lot of those looks lately. An awkward glance is exchanged between us.

"May I rise, Your Majesty?"

"Sure." I shrug. He rises and then stands at the ready. "Is this my carriage?" I ask. He looks really shocked by this. I guess it was a stupid question…I'll just try to act it off.

"Right, just kidding. You know testing you, all that." God, what am I saying? "So, um, let's get back to whatever we were doing, which was…?"

"Hunting the Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve."

"Right, right. I totally knew that. I was just you know, testing you. Again." He raises an eyebrow skeptically, but then shakes it off. He motions to the carriage as if saying, "Ladies first." I hop up and almost trip on the heavy fabric of my dress. Luckily I recover and try to sit down as gracefully as I can muster. I then realize that there is a boy sitting next to me. I hadn't noticed him because he was enveloped by layers of fur, very much like myself. I assume him to be Edmund. I really want to introduce myself and maybe start up a conversation, but then I realize that the Ice Queen or whatever probably wouldn't do something like that. So I slump down and try to make myself comfortable as the sled takes off.

Unfortunately I have a rather hard time getting comfortable. To put it simply, I don't know who gave that dwarf a license to drive a sled, but whoever did should be fired from their job. We nearly crash into twelve trees. Twelve! The first time I'm shocked, but by the fifth I'm just praying to God to have mercy on my soul…Some good it did.

But while I'm trying to not to barf, I notice something very peculiar. The ground around us seems to be thawing. In fact when I look up at the sky I can even see blue. After a while grass starts to peek up and soon I hear birds singing. Now it seems as if winter has never even touched this place and spring had been here for weeks. While it is nice to not have to wear a mountain of coats, I realize that this is probably very sucky for me, being an Ice Queen and all.

Then I get an idea. I am an Ice Queen so certainly I must have ice powers right? So maybe I could just pull an Elsa and magically transform my outfit into pure fabulousness. It's worth a shot. I try to summon magical powers to come sprouting out of my hands, but nothing happens. I'm a little disappointed I'll be honest. How did the Ice Queen turn everything into wintry stuff? Oh wait, there's a wand in my hand. Right I'll use that. Sure enough I raise the wand and tap my forehead, envisioning Elsa's ice dress. Nothing seems to happen, but I look down and shriek with joy. "It worked!" Edmund and my henchman both seem a little weirder out by my out of character mood. Their looks change to ones of worry however when the sled unexpectedly halts.

"It's no good, your Majesty. We can't sledge in this thaw." He says with a look of terror as if he thought I thought it was his fault and I was going to like freeze him or something. Ridiculous.

"Well I guess we'll just have to walk." I say hopping out. Of course I immediately jump into a puddle of melted snow ruining my fabulous new outfit. I'm just lucky like that. Edmund follows suit and I notice he seems happy about it being spring, which I suppose makes sense. I can tell the dwarf is still very apprehensive. "It's not right for a Queen to walk." He mumbles. I overhear him and I get a very devilish idea.

"Quite right. Maybe it would be best if you and Edmund carried me." I say. He looks a little taken back.

"But I- I don't think we'd be able to-"

"What are you trying to say? Do you mean I've gained weight? Be honest! Perhaps I've eaten a few more cupcakes than I should have but-!"

"No, no, no! Your majesty is perfect just the way she is and that was not at all what I meant."

"Then I'm sure between you and Edmund you'll be able to pull it off." A few minutes later we are off. Do I feel a little bad? Maybe. But to be fair I'm just trying to play the part.

After a while of nothing but woods and forests and birds singing I'm starting to get impatient. "How much longer?"

"Soon your majesty."

"Where are we even going?"

"To find Aslan."

"Ugghh…"

"Your majesty."

"What?"

"We're here."

I jump up and start running excitedly. "Finally." I race ahead, tripping over my ridiculous furs a few times. I reach the end of the forest and look out. In front of me is a meadow and it's filled with tents of rainbow colors and flags sway in the wind. At first I think I am imagining it, but I realize that animals of all sorts are casually walking around and conversing and fighting and training and acting like humans.

I'm in the middle of marveling at all this, when I hear a snarl from the side. I turn just in time to see a ginormous wolf pouncing at me, fangs out. I panic and instinctually stick up my hand in a 'stop' motion and then I realize I'm holding a wand. I try to pull it back, but the wolf keeps coming and before I can stop him, it's lodged up his nostril.

"Eww…" The wolf is clearly confused and starts wandering around trying to get a better view of the wand. It looks like a dog when it's chasing its tail…except its chasing a wand…in its nose. I try to stop it so I can pull it out, but it just keeps circling. "Would you just hold still? I'm not going to hurt I just want to help."

"Looks like you've gotten yourself into quite a predicament." A male voice says from behind. I turn and see a young man that's around my age, well, my original age. The first thing I notice about him is he is incredibly _hot_. I mean, like turning heads in a crowd hot. He has this wavy blond hair that stops right above his eyes and his eyes are striking blue and I'll admit it, his cheekbones are gorgeous. But I'm above liking someone for something as petty as looks. Plus I'm a little preoccupied getting my stick out of a wolf's nostril.

"Hey."

"Do you need some help?"

"Help? Oh no. I'm fine." I say, hoping he'll get the message.

"It's no problem. Let me help you. I'll just-"

"I'm a little preoccupied right now, and if you'd stop distracting me, I'd be making a lot more progress." He doesn't answer. I think he's gone away, but apparently not.

"So what exactly happened here." Oh…How do I even begin to explain.

"Since you're clearly not leaving I guess I might as well tell you anyway. I was just standing here minding my own business, and suddenly his puppy leaps out at me, and I, how do I say this? My wandstick accidentally got stuck in his nose. Now he won't stop moving around so I can't get it." He just continues to smile blankly at me as if I was just describing the weather.

"For the record it wasn't really my fault, he lunged at me."

"Well, I'll hold him down and you can pull your stick out." So he grabs hold of the wolf. I reach for my wand and tug as hard as I can. It won't budge.

"Have you got it?" He asks from the back of the wolf.

"Um. Almost." I pull harder but it won't come out. I stick one foot on the wolf's chest and push against it, but still no luck.

"Got it?"

"No. Just a bit further." Finally I put both legs on the dog and count to three and put all my body weight into it, and it pops out. With it comes wades of dog snot. I would have shuddered, except I'm suddenly catapulted into an inconveniently located party of animals approaching us. I hit one of them hard, and feel fuzziness around me. I hear a chorus of snarls and hisses as I stand up wearily and try to get my bearings. As I wipe off the green gooeyness, I realize I'm standing on someone's tail.

"Sorry." I say apologetically. One of the animals gets up and it is this giant lion that's twice as tall as I am.

I stare at him for a couple seconds. "You are the most adorable little kitty cat I've ever seen!" I yell. I run at him and embrace him and begin to pet him lovingly around his fluffy mane.

"Who's the cutest little kitty ever? You are you are. OHH you are _so fluffy_." I purr at him. Then arms unexpectedly pull me off. "Hey. I was in the middle of something there. Rude much?"

"None of your trickery Ice Queen. If you-" One of the centaurs pipes up, but Aslan raises a paw and silences him. "May I have a moment alone with the Ice Queen?" His followers seem reluctant but they slowly disperse. All except one.

"Peter is there something wrong?" Aslan asks the boy from before.

"Um no. I just wanted to make sure miss, um, Ice Queen was alright." He smiles, still not understanding that I'm supposedly evil. Maybe it's the spring getting to his head, but Peter doesn't seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer.

"I'm fine. Thanks again." He walks away. Now it's just me and Aslan. "So what did you want to talk about?"

"Who are you and where is the Ice Queen?" Maybe it's the spring heat but I'm suddenly sweating profusely.

"I'm sorry I don't know what you're talking about." I say, but my voice betrays me.

"No Ice Queen would ever do what you did back there and it is very clear you are not the Ice Queen, and yet you look like one. So that begs the question, who are you?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"You'd be surprised." I sigh and give in.

"It's that obvious huh? Okay. So first off you are in a book. It's called _the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe_. Long story short I got transported here and for some reason the characters all think I'm one of them. I've been traveling through different stories until I can get out. So here I am. And yes, I'm not the Ice Queen as you guessed." He says nothing but stares dramatically at something I can't see in the distance.

"What is your name?"

"It's um…I- can't exactly remember. I have no idea why."

"Interesting." He strokes his mane in thought as if it were a beard

"Is there anything you can do?" I ask.

"Perhaps. I will have to look into it some more. For now we can only continue along the plot. Tell me, what happens next?"

"Hmm. Well for some reason you agree to let me sacrifice you on some sort of an altar and then you basically come back to life and massacre my troops."

"You sacrifice me on an altar. Could it have been the Stone Table?"

"Sure. Sounds about right to me. Wait a moment. Are you actually suggesting I kill you? I don't think I could do that." Forcing Edmund and my own henchman to carry me may have been a little cruel, but there's no way I could ever possibly kill an animal that violently.

"No. We shall make it seem as if you have killed me. Then I shall resurrect accordingly."

"Alright, but how do you expect to pull this off?"

"A simple spell, a fake knife, I will handle it. All you must do is stab me as forcefully as possible in order to complete the illusion."

"But what if I miss? Or something goes wrong?" I can feel the nerves starting to rise.

"It will not matter if you miss and nothing will go wrong." I take a deep breath to calm myself down and not let Aslan see my fear. I notice some of his followers are watching us suspiciously, particularly a certain centaur who is glaring at me with an unbridled fury. I turn back to Aslan.

"Okay. So when will we do this?"

"Tonight."

"TONIGHT?"

"Of course. And I will prepare the spell and see if I can find a solution to your current predicament. I will see you again at midnight tonight exactly at the Stone Table. Your servants will show you the way. Now when you walk away you must act happy, satisfied, and above all victorious." I nod, but inside feel like I'm going to throw up. I turn and plaster on a forced grin. My eye twitches slightly. I walk forward trying to look triumphant, but it feels unnatural and the looks I'm getting tell me that everyone agrees. After a long painful minute I reach the edge of the forest where my "servants" are waiting.

"Let's go. Um. Home." I walk into the forest without looking back to see if anyone's following me. I assume they are. But I'm too preoccupied on what will happen tonight to care.

Midnight is moments away. I await Aslan at the Stone Table, my soldiers (if you could call them that) crowd around me. They are all so foul and ugly that I can barely look at them. Instead I focus on the dark woods anticipating the arrival of Aslan. My palms are sweaty and I've been having heart palpitations all afternoon awaiting tonight.

My heart skips a beat as I see a shape emerge from the darkness. All around me ogres and minotaurs and wolves howl and thunder. I try not to flinch. I plead at Aslan with my eyes. He doesn't seem to notice. He reaches the table and bows his head. I raise my hands for silence, and add a death stare just to complete the effect. It works. I take my opportunity and lean into his ear.

"Is everything ready? Is it a go?" he doesn't answer, but merely bows his head. I step back. He jumps onto the table and lies down. I take a deep breath, preparing myself. I see movement next to me, and a Hag has stepped forward with a knife on a pillow. I clutch the terrible thing and it feels heavy and evil in my hand. I fight the urge to drop it and instead raise it high above my head. Then the beasts all begin to shout and yell and howl with glee and my hands begin to shake. I close my eyes to block out the noise. It's all too much. I'm picturing impaling him again and again and him never rising. Blood pooling around him. I yell in frustration and flare my eyes open and plunge the dagger with all my might into the body below me.

Silence falls over the viewers. My heart is racing and I'm breathing heavily. I follow my arm to my hand to the dagger, but there is nothing there. No body. I have struck only the Stone. I step back and then the image of an impaled lion who is slowly bleeding out has appeared on the table. I drop the dagger instinctively.

I gaze around and chaos has taken the crowd. They are cheering and celebrating what they think is the death as Aslan. I look up just in time to see the real Aslan smiling before he disappears into the woods. I don't know how he did it, but it worked. I can't help but smile because it did. Everyone around me thinks it's because he is dead. I'm not gonna be the one to correct them.

"So?" I ask raising my voice above the crowd. "Let's say we celebrate this triumph. A celebration to match our victory!" I scream. "PARTY AT MY HOUSE!" I point in the direction and begin the trek with a parade of wild creatures drunk on happiness.

Unfortunately I had not realized what an awful venue my house was for a party. Or should I say castle? It's really more of a fortress. A really depressing fortress. It's filled with creepy statues of I don't even know what and I honestly don't want to find out.

"Do we have any drinks? Food? Appetizers?" I ask my servants. They shake their heads. "Hmm. I suppose the chance of having a party city around here is pretty slim. Let's just make do with what we have then."

The first thing I do is fabricate a disco ball out of ice. It takes me a few tries but I get it eventually and it looks so freaking awesome! Then I make some more cool looking ice streamers. I teach some witches how to make pigs-in-blankets, pizza, guacamole, and other delicious treats. I send some wolves on a wild goose chase for soda, chips, and other necessities. Finally I convince an ogre to DJ and after a few minutes of teaching him the ropes, he's jamming. I suppose he's just a born natural. I sit on my throne and adore my handiwork. Not bad at all if you ask me.

So the party begins, and let me tell you, those animals know how to party. They are hardcore. I'm just going to say one word, _Pin the tail on the sugared-up minotaur while simultaneously playing freeze dance. _That was more than one word but you get my point. It was pretty epic. It almost made me forget that I'm trapped inside a book probably destined to never see my parents or home again. It was a great party. The thought pops into my head that perhaps they don't really deserve to be slaughtered brutally tomorrow. I mean they're just fighting for what they believe in. I quickly brush the idea aside though. It reminds me too much of the Editor from _Gossip Girl_.

The next morning as the animals recovered from their hard night of partying I secretly meet with Aslan in the woods.

"You're alive! It worked. So what's the next step?" I ask (after hugging him a bit. He is so fluffy).

"We go into battle today. Tell me, how does it end in the book?"

"The good guys win, the children become the rulers of Narnia, and the Ice Queen dies…wait a second."

"That last part maybe problematic."

"You think?"

"Not to worry we will certainly think of a solution. Perhaps the same spell? No it will be too hard to perform in the midst of battle."

"I'm going to DIE!"

"Not to worry I will work on this. Until then just try to lay low and not get into any trouble."

"I'm awful at that."

"And I have good news."

"Great. I could use some good news."

"I believe I know of the spell which has bound you inside this book. I do not have an anticurse yet, but I will work on it."

"That's good I suppose…Aslan I've been thinking about it, and why do we still have to fight?"

"Because the Ice Queen must be overthrown and because we must follow the plot."

"But why? Why can't we just decide to make peace until you can figure out how to get me out of here?"

"Why? Because it must be done. My followers will never be able to peacefully cooperate with the bloodthirsty monsters you call people."

"Excuse me?" I remember the sight of all those 'bloodthirsty monsters' smiling for the first time. "Just because you're too racist to accept the idea that because they aren't beautiful storybook character creatures doesn't mean that they don't have feelings or want peace as well."

"Don't be ridiculous. This is precisely why a woman should not rule." My eye twitches.

"Did you just say that?" I ask. "You know Aslan you surprise me. I always thought you were a great fair ruler who justly fought for the good of the entire land. I can see know that your nothing but a sexist coward who hides behind his egotistical mane because he thinks he can do anything because he is a man! Er…Lion. I know you also have magical powers and shit but the point remains valid. And because you won't, I will fight for the rights of _all_ the creatures of Narnia."

Aslan growls at me. "You have no right to speak to me this way."

"I'll see you on the battle field." I storm out dramatically. If I wasn't an Ice Queen there would have been fire trailing behind me. I never saw Aslan as a sexist type, but I guess I should have seen it coming from a character written in the 50's.

"Wake up. Everyone wake up!" I shout trying to rally together my 'troops' leftover from the party last night.

"I have decided it is time for us to join together for a worthy cause. Not fighting for me to rule. No. Fighting for the equal judgment and opportunity of all of you. Ever since you were born you have been stereotyped into monsters who are pure evil. This is not true. You are just as kind and pure as any of Aslan's followers, so why should you be punished? Because you were born a hideous beast (no offense). So today we will fight for equality. To show them that we deserve an equal chance!"

My little speech appears to actually work. Shouts and hollers of approval echo in the cavernous halls. Everyone rushes forward to prepare for battle and I am swept up with them. I can't even think of how to prepare myself, I have never fought in any battle. I've only ever read or seen them on TV and in movies. Something tells me that's not a very accurate source either. And my heart pumps hard but for once I don't feel scared (even though I'm definitely in real danger now). I feel inspired. I guess my troops were really inspired too because I've barely finished locating where my wand has disappeared too when they've already assembled outside. I'm actually shocked to see they've lined up in perfect rows and appear very well trained. Lucky me.

We begin our march toward the battle field. It feels as if the steady stomping of the troops is my heart beat and it pulses through my body. It could be the excitement but I'm shaking. Before we can see the field, I hear the enemy. Aslan's troops. I never thought I'd be trying to fight against the protagonists, but this is necessary. I take a deep breath and then exhale slowly. I try to get my thoughts together.

What is Aslan's greatest weakness? That's easy, he doesn't have one. Not to mention both Peter and Edmund are basically invincible because they have plot protection. So how can we possibly win this? I bet if I can somehow get them separated and surrounded we could take them down one by one. But that's never going to work. This is just so frustrating! Why do we need to go to battle? Why can't Aslan just accept us?

I've got it. Aslan clearly won't listen, but maybe someone else will. What if I tried to negotiate with Susan, or the youngest sister, whatsherface? I bet they would listen. Maybe even Peter might at least consider my proposal. Now the hard part is making contact. I'll need a distraction that'll postpone the battle somehow. If I can stop both sides from fighting just long enough, then I'll have my chance. And I've got the perfect idea…


	10. Chapter 10

She's beautiful. Sorry, _he's_ beautiful. I stare at my dwarf henchman who is dressed in a dress identical to mine with a wig to match. I'm feeling proud of myself for the plan, being able to successfully create a dress and wig out of ice, and of course just looking at him makes me giggle.

"Okay. Let's go over the plan once more. You will stand on the box attached to the chariot. The dress should be long enough to hide the box. You just need to pretend to be me for a while. Everyone has a heads up and will be doing their best to protect you. But I just want to let you know that there is a chance of something going wrong. I probably just jinxed that-"

"What does 'jinx' mean, m'lady?"

"Oh nothing. Forget it." I don't want to scare him too much. I know in the book the Ice Queen dies, but there's a chance that because it's not actually me he won't die, right? He'd probably die anyway to be honest. At least now he gives me a chance to stop the fighting before too many others die. But then again I know I'm just trying to convince myself this is the right course of action but I honestly don't know. Both ways many people will die. But they're just story characters. Fiction. Not real. But giving my doppelganger a good luck (not goodbye) hug makes him feel all too real. I could be wrong.

"My Ice Queen. It is an honor to assist you. No matter the cost."

"Oh shut up. Don't be ridiculous. Your life is just as precious as mine. I have no right to take it away from you. I think we should call this off."

"No. This is my life's purpose. It makes me happy. If you die then I shall die as well." I stare at him. Geez, this is one dedicated servant. I grab some snow and using my awesome snow powers instantly craft an elegant necklace that is thin as silk, yet sturdy as diamonds, and place it around his neck. A little snowflake hangs off it.

"To complete the look." I say. Even though I have never worn or wear any such jewelry. Honestly I don't know why I did it, it just felt right.

I turn away before things get too real and mentally prepare myself. I pull my hood over my head so hopefully no one will recognize me. I head in the opposite direction from the battle field. I'm going north a bit then turning west (at least I think, I'm not sure they have directions in Narnia). If I can circle around the back of the camp then I'll be able to sneak in and find Susan and the youngest child. I think her name starts with an L. Lily? Louisa? Close enough.

I sliver through the labyrinth of tents searching for the one that looks occupied. I'm starting to get nervous until I hear voices. I freeze, thinking it's a guard or something, but I realize the voices are both female. Bingo.

As I'm about to enter the tent I see a shadow that looks suspiciously like it has a mane and a tail. _Could it be?_ No. I'm probably just hallucinating. I forget about it and enter the tent.

"Who are you?" A little girl with big round eyes stares up at me curiously.

"Lucy! That's the Ice Queen, get away from her!" A second girl says, who I hadn't noticed before.

"Lucy. That was her name." I feel so much better now that I remember that. "Oh right. I have to talk to you two. Please don't leave, or scream, or try to run away. I promise I won't hurt you. Look." I take out my wand. I see the older girl tense up. Then I set it down and she just looks confused. "See? I won't hurt you."

"What trickery is this, Ice Queen?"

"Nothing! I just want to talk to you. Please. Just listen." She glares at me a little, but says nothing. I take a breath. I can do this.

"Look, I just don't understand why we're fighting. I don't want to hurt anyone. We just want an equal say in the government of Narnia."

"What?"

"I-I'm trying to say…Who gave Aslan the right to govern anyway? A prophecy? I just don't understand. He treats those who were born evil or mean looking like they're less than others. That's racist and I won't stand for it. Cause they're not actually evil. They're misunderstood and if you gave them a chance they can be just as good as anyone else. That's all we want. And I don't think we have to fight for this. I think we can just talk this out. If you just give us a chance. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Um…I think. Maybe. But what can we do?"

"It's easy. We stop fighting, you can rule, but you must promise to give my people the same legal rights as everyone else. Treat them equally."

"Yes. I suppose…"

"Really? It's a yes?" That was so easy! I hope nothing goes wrong with this too easy solution. I'm sure nothing will happen.

"Yes." I hold out my hand and we shake and a smile blossoms on my face. The excitement makes me jump up and down. It worked! I hear a roar and a tearing noise and I freeze suddenly. That's not good. Okay. I should have seen this coming. I grab the wand and turn and shoot out a spray of ice. I hit Aslan head on and he roars in agony. It vibrates through my body.

"It's been great talking to you. Please don't forget your promise." I run out leaving Susan and Leia, no Lindsey, or, whatever. The little sister. I run out leaving them huddling in horror at the scene unfolding in front of them.

I burst out and make a beeline to the woods. I don't know how Aslan found me (probably his magical scent tracking powers or something), hopefully the woods can provide me some cover from him. I make it and I see no sign of Aslan. My chest is already burning and each breath I take feeds the fire in my lungs. I continue on, fighting off my wheezes. I should work out more.

I race through the woods. Branches tear at my face, tracing scarlet stripes of blood on my cheeks. I think I just heard a twig snap behind me. Doesn't matter, just keep running. Just keep running. Just keep…My face falls hard on ground. Dirt fills my mouth. I spit it out and in a daze pick my head up. I just have to keep going. Why though? Uhh. I'm so tired. I think I'll just lay here instead. The ground cushions my face as I put my head back down.

Then there's a terrible pain in my side as something kicks me and then lands on my back. It knocks the small amount of breath that was left in my lungs, out of them. I start making dying fish sounds. A noise comes from on top of me.

"Uhh. Whaa?"

I pound my fist to show my need for air. "Get- o-off _me_." The weight is lifted and fresh air comes rushing into my lungs. I spin around and stare up at the sky as I take deep breaths. Then I sit up and say, "Hey, what's the big idea?" The 'thing' that tripped over me was a person. This person sees me and his eyes widen.

"There you are. I've been looking all over for you! I was so worried. I-I thought-" He jumps on me again and squeezes his arms around me, knocking the air out of me lungs (again).

"Can't –breath, ack." He lets go. It seems he's regained his composure. Now he sits waiting for my response. "N-nemo?"

He rolls his eyes. "Well, duh. Took you long enough. By the way, why were you laying on the ground?"

"I'm running from Aslan. Long story. And thanks for _tripping_ over me, by the way."

"Wait, why are you running from Aslan?" It's my turn to roll my eyes.

"Well, apparently Aslan is a prejudice, narrow-minded, power hungry militant, who thinks that certain creatures are evil by birth and don't deserve the same rights as others. So I tried to convince him otherwise, but I guess he's too egotistical to believe that he could be wrong."

"What?"

"I _know_. I mean, I would never have expected this from _Aslan_ either. It's as much a shock to me as it is to you."

"No. I mean how could you be so ridiculous as to challenge Aslan? I _told_ you to lay low. Do you have a death wish? This is why the Editors keep finding you. If you don't stop this you're going to end up dead! Why couldn't you just listen to me?!"

I stare at him for a moment in disbelief.

"Excuse me? Were you expecting me to just sit by while others were being oppressed? Because it puts me in danger? Well that's ridiculous because my life is just as meaningful as theirs."

"They're story characters. _Fiction. Not real_." His tone is so acerbic.

"They seem real to me. And when did you become so demanding?"

"When I was searching for you because I thought the Editors had gotten you! And I was worried and desperate and the whole time you were sitting here playing revolutionary?"

"Yes! I was. And maybe you couldn't find me because you _abandoned_ me when the Editors showed up?"

"I did not abandon you, I was leading the Editors away."

"That's not what it looked like to me."

"Uhh! It doesn't matter. Either way you won't be able to get out of here without my help." He crosses his arms and a smug satisfied look comes on his face that I just want to slap off.

"Oh really? Cause I was doing fine without you. I got out of Gossip Girl on my own, and I was doing fine until you showed up."

"Oh really? Well then I guess you'll do fine without me from now on then?"

"I bet you I can. It's not that hard. You barely even helped me in the first place."

"Are you kidding me? What do you think I was doing this whole time? Fine. Fine! You want to go on your own, go ahead!"

"Fine."

"Fine!"

"FINE!"

"F-"

"Oh my god, stop it! You are so cliché." I yell out at him, but he's disappeared into the forest. I stomp off into the opposite direction. I take my anger out on any poor sticks and rocks in my way. I kick a rock and it goes flying and bounces off a tree and hits me in the shin.

"Owww." I pick up the stupid rock and am about to fling it as far as I can, but as I look up I meet eyes with none other than Aslan.

"Hehe. Hi." I give him a little wave. He roars at me, blowing my hair out of my face.

"Breath mints, dude." He doesn't appreciate my joke, so I take off running. Unfortunately, Aslan has the same idea and pursues me. My stupid dress decides to start tripping me. I try to shoot some ice spikes back at him, but my aim is completely awful. To be fair, it's very hard to aim well while running away from a mad lion.

I have to get out of here, now. But how? I really don't want to push my luck on falling again. How does Nemo do it? I try to remember every time he jumped. What did they all have in common? I realize that I've never actually seen him do it, every time he's just walked through a door…Oh. Okay. I think I can do that.

I picture a door in front of me, and as I run forward I reach out my hand and pretend to turn the imaginary doorknob, I step through it, step on my dress and fall face first onto the ground. That's the second time today. I lift my head up, but my heart sinks. I'm still in the woods in Narnia. Not good. I look up and see Aslan running full force at me. I squeeze my eyes shut because I'm not brave enough to look death in the face. I hear a roar, and a scream (probably mine). I sit there a moment, eyes shut, quaking in fear. Am I not dead? I open one eye. My jaw drops.

Susan stands between me and Aslan, with her bow pointed straight at him. Aslan stares at her, seeming angry that she interfered. My mind races as I try to figure out what to do.

"Do not move another foot, or I will shoot." Susan says. I'm shocked, I honestly didn't think she had it in her.

"You do not have it in you." I guess Aslan thought the same thing. Susan doesn't answer, only draws her bow back tighter.

"I will not let you kill her. I agree that there must be peace, but not this way. If we do this then we are no better than her." Excuse me? I bite my tongue.

"She cannot be trusted."

"How do you know if you don't give her a chance?" It's Aslan's turn to be silent. I take the opportunity of tense silence to stand up. Aslan tenses up, ready to pounce, but then relaxes. "Very well. But when she betrays us I will not be to blame." I think now is an excellent time to speak up.

"I would just like to point out that I just really want to get out of here. And it's not me I want you to spare, it's my people. I just want you to lead them and treat them as your equals." Susan nods her head.

"I shall make sure of it."

"Thanks you. And thanks for, well, saving me." I don't usually have to thank other people. It feels strange, not bad, just unfamiliar. "I better get going now before I cause more trouble. You wouldn't happen to have a door I could use anywhere, would you?"

After a lot of walking we arrive at the lamppost. It's still snowy here. Maybe it's the Ice Queen growing on me, but I find it very peaceful. I turn to Susan.

"You will look out for my people right?"

"As if they were my children."

"Thanks. Would you mind doing me one more little favor?"

"Of course. Anything at all."

"Would you mind just checking up on a friend of mine? He'd probably be dressed like me, but he's not me. You'll know what I mean when you see him."

"I will."

"Thanks. Again. And if it helps, I think you'll make a great leader." She smiles meekly at her shoes. I give her a last wave goodbye, and wander into the mass of trees. As I walk through them, they get closer together until they are squeezing me. They don't scratch me though, they are soft, like velvet. My hands reach forward, and brush against wood. I locate a doorknob. I take a deep breath, imagine myself opening a portal to another world (I don't even know if it works like that but oh well) and I turn it. My feet step through and land softly. I look down and see carpet. I look up and see flowers enveloping the room. One has a note and it says, _to Miss Christine Daae. _It worked! I didn't think it would, but it did. Take that Nemo. Now I just have to keep this up and I should be home in no time at all.


	11. Chapter 11

Cas sulked as he dragged his feet behind Michael. Michael continued walking at a brisk pace, glancing back only once in awhile to be sure Cas was still with him. He rubbed his temples as he looked back once again.

"Keep pace, Castiel," Michael commanded. "We will never retrieve the Ring if you keep slowing down."

"We will never retrieve the Ring if you don't know where you're going," Castiel bristled. Michael fumed.

"I know where we are going." He said.

"Perhaps but you don't know where the Ring is," Cas added. Michael stopped.

"I am the leader of this expedition. The only reason you're here is because I am a man of my word." He seemed about to say something more but stopped himself. He turned away and seethed. Then he turned back and said simply, "Let's...stop for a moment."

Cas frowned, and sat down sharply. Michael narrowed his eyes and sat down too. A thin line of sweat crawled its way along his hairline. Cas noticed his eye twitch slightly, and then he cringed as his eyes glazed over. His hand shot to his head. He started to tug at his hair and began yelling in agony. Cas gaped at the sight, and moved to help.

Suddenly his eyes cleared and a light sparked behind them. He was breathing heavily and he was looking around wildly, taking in his surroundings. His eyes found Cas and he struggled to find the effort to say, "Cas."

Cas jumped up and rushed to him.

"Dean?" He asked ardently. Dean nodded. Cas sighed happily and smiled.

"Are you alright? How are you holding up?" He asked, fervently. Dean shook his head.

"Listen to me," he growled. He pulled Cas closer. "I've been inside Michael's head and I know his plans. You can't trust him."

Dean took a moment to catch his breath before continuing, "If you don't die along the way, he plans to kill you after you've found the Ring."

"Dean, you think I haven't expected that from the start?" Cas asked. "He can't fool me with his gifts and flowery words."

Dean smiled and said, "Cas, you sly dog."

Cas smiled back. He and Dean just stared at each other for a moment, taking each other in and holding onto the moment. Then Dean's eyes went wide and he clutched Cas tighter.

"Dean-" Cas began, but Dean squeezed Cas's arm.

"There's more. You...you can't let Michael get the Ring…" He said laboriously. He winced, and strained to keep control. "If he gets the Ring...He's not going to expand Heaven. He's going to…"

Dean shut his eyes and pulled away. He clawed at the ground, but suddenly stopped. He stared at the ground for a moment, still breathing heavily. Then he swallowed and ran his hand through his hair. Carefully, he stood up. When he turned around, Cas could see Dean was gone.

"We need to go now," Michael said. He gathered himself and began to walk away. Cas was sure he must have some suspicion of what had just happened, but doubted he wanted to admit it to himself. But Cas hadn't heard the end of Dean's warning, and if Michael was suspicious it would be even harder for Dean to take control again.

Cas forced himself to get up and follow Michael. He tried to act as if nothing had occurred, but truthfully, he had been shaken up. His didn't know what Dean had meant to say, but he did know that he couldn't let Michael get the Ring.

"Sam, are you absolutely sure you want do this?" Bobby asked. "I don't like it one bit."

"I have to," Sam said.

"Once we begin, we must completely follow through to the end," Hannah said. "We cannot allow anyone else to free Lucifer. It must be us."

"I know," Sam said. Hannah bowed her head solemnly. Balthazar and Samandriel followed suit. Sam cocked his head to the side, as he realized they were unfurling their wings. The room exploded with light and he shielded his eyes. The next moment, the light had returned to normal and the angels had raised their heads.

"Let us begin," Hannah said.

Cas's bones were aching just as much as his spirit was. The only thing that kept him walking hour after hour, and fighting skirmish after skirmish, was the hope that if he just persevered a bit longer, Dean would come back. Every now and then, he could almost convince himself that it was Dean he was walking with, or that it was Dean who was wielding that great sword and fighting alongside him.

"Are we any closer to the Ring?" Cas asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yes," Michael said.

"I somehow doubt that," Cas said. Michael scowled and continued walking.

"What do we have here?" A Southern accent asked. Cas and Michael turned to see a man step out from behind a tree. Several others appeared too, and suddenly they were surrounded. Michael's scowl deepened as the men pulled out knives. The first man to speak smiled, and his fangs glimmered in the faint light.

"Vampires," Cas said. The man winked.

"And you must be angels," he said. "Pleasure ta' meet you."

Michael skipped the introductions and unsheathed his sword.

"Straight to the fighting, alright," the vampire said, and lunge forward.

Cas dodged him easily, and kept him at a distance with his sword. Meanwhile Michael was quickly cutting down the vampires. The lead vampire and Cas circled each other, waiting for the right moment to pounce.

"Your friend over there sure knows how to swing a sword," he said. Cas grimaced.

"He's not my friend," he said resentfully. The vampire put his hands up.

"Didn't know," he said. "Guess most folks down here end up with fighting with whoever they need to to survive. Although, we don't get many angels."

Suddenly, Cas heard Michael cry out behind him. He quickly glanced back to see one of the vampires had managed to scratch Michael's neck. The cut itself wasn't bad at all, but his pride was injured. Cas didn't need to keep watching to know that those vampires were going to suffer. He looked back, but the vampire took advantage of his distraction and pounced.

Cas jumped in shock. His reflexes took over, and he rolled to avoid the vampire's knife. He kneeled to get up, but the vampire attacked again and he was forced to stay kneeling. They continued to block each other's attacks. Cas knew it was only a matter of time until one of his blocks failed, so he moved quickly. His leg shot out and hooked around the vampire's, causing him to catapult to the ground. He'd clearly been caught off guard. He fell with a gasp, and his knife skidded away.

He looked up at Cas as he put his sword to his neck. Just as Cas was about to decapitate him, something stopped him. The vampire was smiling up at him, his eyes twinkling.

"You gonna kill me?" He asked. "You can go ahead, you won fair and square. But I can help you."

Castiel narrowed his eyes, and put more pressure on the vampire's neck. The vampire looked nervously at the sword, but he wasn't dead yet. He kept talking.

"I overheard you two bickering about the Ring of Light," he said. "I know where it is and I'll take you there if you don't kill me."

"You know where the Ring is?" Cas asked incredulously. The vampire nodded.

"Castiel, what are you doing?" Michael said, brushing vampire guts off his feet and onto onto the grass. "Kill the vampire."

"He knows where the Ring is," Cas said. Michael's mouth turned down.

"I know where the Ring is," he said.

"Is that why you were going in the opposite direction?" The vampire asked. Michael was speechless, and he gawked down at the vampire. Cas couldn't help but smile.

"Alright Castiel, you've had your laugh," Michael said.

"He can take us to the Ring," Cas said, and noticed Michael's grip tighten on his blade.

"We can't trust him," Michael spit. Cas rolled his eyes, but the vampire raised an eyebrow.

"Ya'll clearly don't understand Purgatory," he said. Michael's nostrils flared. "Down here, it's all about survival, no matter what it takes or who you have to work with. I want to survive, and teaming up with two powerful angels seems pretty good to me. So why the devil would I undermine that?"

Cas was about to fight for him, when he noticed Michael's facial expression change. It was incredibly slight, but Castiel knew every muscle and twitch in Dean's face. He recognized that slight squint in his eyes and jump of the eyebrow which revealed that Michael was, if not completely on board, at least curious. He guessed it had been the "powerful" adjective used in Michael's vicinity. After the adoration withdrawal, Michael must be willing to take whatever he can get.

"I have decided," Michael announced. The vampire raised his eyebrow quizzically at Cas, who widened his eyes sympathetically. "The vampire may travel with us, but I want you both to remember who is in charge of this expedition."

Cas sheathed his sword and offered the vampire a hand. He took it, and hopped up. He brushed some dirt off and offered his hand for a shake.

"I'm truly grateful," he said, his accent adding a ring to his words. "Name's Benny LaFitte."

"Castiel," Cas said, shaking his hand. He gave Michael a sideways glance. "And that is the archangel Michael."

"An archangel?" Benny asked. "Ya don't say."

"I do…" Cas said, tilting his head and pinching his eyebrows together. Benny smirked.

"Well, Castiel and Michael, what's say we find that Ring?" Benny asked.


	12. Chapter 12

As I wake up, I remember where I am along with some of Christine's memories. Particularly about Raoul and her father. I'm also greeted by an intense headache from banging my head on that pole. My head hurts just thinking about last night. I try to find a mirror to check if a bruise has formed, but in vain. I notice there's something pointy in my pocket. I reach down and pull it out. It's the Ice Queen's wand from Narnia. That could definitely come in handy in the future.

I peer out of the bed I was sleeping in, and scan the cave. The Phantom is sitting by his organ (writing dark, angst-y music probably). I've been very curious about what's behind that mask of his. I'm sure it couldn't be that bad. Although he does hide it for a reason, and I should respect that. However, the curiosity is too strong to ignore. It must be Christine's because I feel so strongly compelled and I think I remember something about it in the musical. Slowly I creep through the candles, and slither up the rock stairs to the organ. My hand reaches out, and I try to resist, but my hand is stronger than my will and before I can stop myself I'm lunging forward. I'm feeling indecisive though, and one of my legs steps out and before I know it, both my legs are twisted around each other. The forward motion causes the rest of my body to fall forward too. I fall face first on the floor, intensifying my headache. "Owwww." My moans finally alert the Phantom to the fact that I'm lying on the floor in pain.

"Christine. What did you do?" He bends down and helps me sit up.

"Christine, your head is hurt."

"Yeah. Was it the large red bruise, the fact that I passed out after I walked into a pole yesterday, or the moans of agony that helped you figure it out?"

"Do you need to rest?" Hmm. I have another one of my brilliant ideas.

"Actually," I whimper, putting my puppy dog eyes on. "I do feel rather sickly. I think I hit my head pretty hard yesterday. Maybe, if I went home I could rest up and get proper medical attention." The Phantom seems suspicious. He's onto my plan.

"I don't know Christine. You could rest down here. I could bring a doctor down here if necessary, or care for you myself." Okay. Time to put my acting skills to the test.

"OOOhhhhh. My head! Is it just me or is the world spinning? I-I think I can see the light! It's so beautiful and bright and maybe if I just walk towards it-"

"Okay, okay. Very well. Perhaps you do need some rest at home. Come." He picks me up, and I try to keep a poker face so he doesn't change his mind. We make the long journey back to the real world. It felt a lot longer and more ordinary because we weren't singing or anything. Finally we arrive, and he leaves me off in my dressing room, where I proceed to collapse on the floor out of exhaustion. I think some ballerinas found me or something. Not really sure. The important thing is that after I woke up, Madame Giry came to visit me.

"Christine, you will be playing the part of the Pageboy, and Carlotta will be playing the lead, the Countess."

"Cools." I should be okay because thanks to my super-duper automatically knows all the lyrics powers I can fake my way through the performance.

"You are not upset? The pageboy is a silent role." Even better! No lyrics or singing.

"So? Do I still get paid?"

"Um..Well yes, but…very well." After that she leaves, and I'm not bothered until the show.

I'm just going to go right out and say it, as soon as I put my costume on I start laughing out loud. It is ridiculous. I have this white powdered face and a rainbow maid outfit. Quite literally, rainbow. Carlotta looks even more ridiculous. She has this enormous white wig that is three times the size of her head, and a dress that is four times the size of her body. To top it all off, she walks around like a peacock, flaunting herself. It's just too much and every time I glance in her direction I start laughing like a crazy person, and everyone looks at me like I am one.

Finally the show starts. Unfortunately, Carlotta starts to sing and she sounds like a dying pigeon. I bite my lip so I don't laugh. It would look really bad if someone who is supposed to be silent started to laugh. I react the way I'm supposed to (I think). Everything seems to be going smoothly. I scan the audience. A quick shadow passes behind the large crystal chandelier out of sight. I must be seeing things again. Maybe those drugs that I think the Phantom slipped me in that fog still haven't worn off.

Anyway Carlotta and the rest of the cast sing along to the bouncy lighthearted song. I would too, except I'm supposed to be silent. Instead I just bop with the music.

"DID I NOT INSTRUCT YOU THAT BOX FIVE SHOULD REMAIN EMPTY?" A booming voice proclaims interrupting the performance. What does box five have to do with any of this? I must have missed something here. Whatever. Suddenly some the pollen from the flowers for the next scene waft on stage. I try to cover my mouth, but I'm too late. I sneeze, very loudly and very violently, awkwardly interrupting the dramatic scene going on in front of me (I'm sensing a pattern here).

"Your part is silent, little toad."

"What no bless you?"

"A toad? Perhaps it is you who are the toad, madam."

"Haha. I get it. It's a metaphor." I say while nudging Carlotta. She glares at me and instructs the maestro to continue playing. I roll my eyes. Just trying to start some friendly conversation. Carlotta begins to sing with the music. Everything seems normal. The audience just seems really confused by what just happened. Carlotta gets to the peak of her note, and then suddenly croaks. I blink in shock. She seems scared and confused, but starts to sing again. No sooner does she start then she croaks again. This time I laugh out loud. Screw being a silent role, this is just too funny. Carlotta just keeps attempting to sing which makes it even funnier. I'm just rolling on the floor at this point.

Finally Carlotta runs off stage crying. The managers run onstage, one grabs my arm and pulls me up. "Ouch. Couldn't you be a little gentler?"

"The part of the Countess will be played by Miss Christine Daae."

"Oh yeah, don't even ask _my _opinion on the matter. It's not like I'm the one who will be performing." Whatever. I know the performance doesn't even go on. Still bothers me though.

"We will take a short intermission now. Please enjoy the ballet from Act III of tonight's performance." They shove me offstage as I hear ballet music start. Through all the chaos that ensues, I catch sight of Raoul. I think now would be a good time to tell him about the Phantom. Then someone screams at the top of their lungs. Something shocking must have happened. If I remember correctly I think someone was murdered. Now seems like a good time to make a run for it. I manage to escape in the chaos, grab Raoul's hand and start walking up the first flight of stairs I see.

"_Why have you brought me here?_" I guess now's a good time to start singing.

"_Don't take me back there. _Although I do think we should call the police to let them know someone just DIED._"_

"_We must return"_

"Were you not listening? _His eyes will find us there, those eyes that burn_. _And if he has to kill a thousand men, the Phantom of the Opera will kill and kill again." _We get to the roof.

"_There is no Phantom of the Opera."_ I turn to Raoul and just stare at him.

"Are you joking? He just killed someone, and you're telling me the Phantom doesn't exist? Are you-_Raoul I've been there," _This singing on demand is really starting to irritate me. "-_to his world of unending night, to a world where the daylight dissolves into darkness, darkness_. _Raoul I've seen him, can I ever forget that sight? Can I ever escape from that face, so distorted, deformed it was hardly a face in that darkness, darkness" _That was so harsh. How can Christine say those things? Worse how could I say those things? "_But his voice filled my spirit with a strange sweet sound in that night there was music in my life and through music my soul began to sooaaaaaaaaar."_ Or it could have been the drugs in that fog. I'm telling you there was something trippy in that stuff. "_And I sung as I never had before."_

"_What you heard was a dream and nothing more."_

"Okay that was not a dream, are you even list-" But Raoul puts his hand over my mouth and starts to sing.

"_No more talk of darkness, forget these wide-eyed fears, I'm here nothing will harm you."_ Tell that to the guy who was murdered downstairs. "_My words will warm and calm you." _Singing about problems does not make them go away. Raoul tries to hug me closer, but I just shove him away. He doesn't seem to really notice anything.

"_Let me be your freedom, let daylight dry your tears, I'm here, with you beside you to guard you and to guide you."_

"Just cause I'm a woman doesn't mean I need someone to guide m-_Say you'll love me every waking moment. Turn my head with talk of summertime." _What is that supposed to mean? "_Say you need me with you now and always. Promise me that all you say is true. That's all I ask of you." _

"_Let me be your shelter, let me be your light. You're safe, no one will find you"_ Unless they think to look on the roof. "_Your fears are far behind you." _Raoul again tries to embrace me, but I just take a step back and put my hand up.

"_All I want is freedom, a world with no more night. And you always beside me to hold me and to hide me." _Christine needs to learn to be independent.

"_Then say you'll share with me one love one lifetime. Let me lead you from you solitude. Say you need me with you here, beside you. Anywhere you go, let me go too. Christine, that's all I ask of you"_

"_Say you'll share with me one love one lifetime. Say the word and I will follow you..." _Christine is a setback to the entire feminist equality movement. But I can't voice my complaints because now we're singing in unison.

"_Share each day with me, each night, each morning."_

"_Say you love me." _

"_You know I do."_ That is the most egotistical answer that he could have possible given. I'm trying so hard not to duct tape his mouth shut just so I won't have to deal with this ridiculous baloney anymore.

"_Love me that's all I ask of you." _Raoul leans in for a kiss, and I 'accidentally' punch him in the nose. He falls backwards and lands hard in the snow. The music is awkwardly continuing to play, even though we're not singing along with it.

"Sorry my hand, uuhh slipped." I shrug and smile, secretly very satisfied. Raoul gets up with his hand to his face.

"Does it look bad?" He takes his hand out of the way, and I cringe. There's a lot of blood.

"Ummmm. No. No it looks fine. Let's just um, go back inside and get you cleaned up. Maybe go to a hospital, get a plastic surgeon. But really, it looks fine. Here let me help you." I help him up and we leave the rooftop. I swear I can almost hear singing from behind me, but it must just be an echo or the wind or something. We're halfway down the stairs, and suddenly there's an awful crash and screaming.

"I have a feeling the chandelier just fell. It's just a hunch though." We head back downstairs as Act I ends.


	13. Chapter 13

A moment ago I was with Raoul after I accidentally punched him in the face, but now I'm standing next to him outside the opera house in a pink ball gown.

"What? Raoul, what happened? How did we get here?" Raoul looks at me confused.

"We took a carriage and then walked here."

"That's not what I mean Raoul. I mean, a moment ago we were in the opera house and the chandelier just fell and-" I stop talking because Raoul is staring at me as if I'm being weirder than usual.

"Christine, that was over six months ago…" I stare at him, and feel my eye twitch a little.

"I'm sorry. Could you repeat that I could have sworn you said-"

"Six months, yes. That was six months ago. And we got a new chandelier. Don't you remember?" Okay. What? What is going on here? I'm just gonna have to roll with it, but I am so freaked out right now. But if I follow the plot, this must be the opening of Act II, the Masquerade Ball. That would explained the ball gown.

"Okay. Um, I'm just feeling a little forgetful today. Did anything eventful happen in these past six months."

"Well, we got the new chandelier, you've been the lead in most of the operas, oh and we got secretly engaged."

"Right. Secretly engaged. I totally remember that. Okay Raoul, let's go blow the roof off this masquerade party."

"Excuse me?"

"Nevermind. Come on let's go."

Inside looks like a circus took all their clowns, mixed them in a blender and threw them back up. Don't get me wrong the costumes are elegant and gorgeous, but everyone dancing around makes it feel so chaotic. And since when did this many people work at the Opera Populaire? I don't know these people. I guess they just needed more people for the dance number. Speaking of which, the moment Raoul and I walk in they burst into song.

"_Masquerade! Paper faces on parade…Masquerade! Hide you face, so the world will never find you."_ Wow. The symbolism in this song is really subtle.

"_Masquerade! Every face a different shade…Masquerade! Look around there's another mask behind you! Flash of mauve, splash of puce, fool and king, ghoul and goose"_ What the fudge is that supposed to mean? "_green and black, queen and priest, trace of rouge, face of beast." _These lyrics are just listing things!_ "Faces! Take you turn, take a ride on the merry-go-round, in an inhuman race."_

"_Eye of gold, thigh of blue,"_ Again with the listing stuff. Great lyrics here, really great. "_true is false, who is who? Curl of lip, swirl of gown, ace of hearts, face of clown. Faces, drink it in, drink it up, till you've drowned in the light, in the sound…"_

"_Of who can name the face?" _Raoul and I sing in unison. That's the first line we've sang so far. We can't even dance because the ballroom floor is occupied by the 'masquerade' singers/dancers. So we just stand there. Awkwardly watching the performance.

"_Masquerade! Leering satyrs, peering eyes…Masquerade! Run and hide but a face will still pursue you!" _Now the rest of the supporting cast joins in, except for Raoul and I who just continue to stand there like idiots. Although Raoul seems to be having a good time, humming the tune to himself.

"_What a night!"_

"_What a crowd!"_

"_Makes you glad!"_

"_Makes you proud! All the crème de la crème!" _That sounds more like a pastry than a social class. Whoever wrote these lyrics must have been hungry.

"_Watching us, watching them!"_ Ummm. Okkkayyyy. Not creepy at all.

"_And all ours fears are in the past!"_

"_Six months…"_

"_Of relief!"_

"_Of delight!"_

"_Of Elysian peace!" _

"_And we can breath at last!"_

"_No more notes!"_

"_No more ghost!" _Way to jinx it.

"_Here's a health!"_

"_Here's a toast: to a prosperous year!"_

"_To the new chandelier!"_

"_And may its splendor never fade!" _Would they shut up and stop jinxing us?

"_Six months!" _

"_What a change!" _

"_What a blessed release!"_

"_And what a masquerade!" _Everyone turns unexpectedly away from Raoul and I and decide to mind their own business (for once). I'm forced to sing against my will (as usual), but they take no notice."

"_Think of it, a secret engagement. Look you future bride!"_ I shudder with the thought. _Just think of it."_

"_But why is it secret? What have we to hide?"_ Dear Lord, is Raoul still being an idiot, and pretending the Phantom isn't real? Really? "_You promised me."_

"_No, Raoul, please don't let them see…"_

"_Well, let them see. It's an engagement, not a crime." _I'm starting to wonder if it's Raoul's mission in life to contradict me. _"Christine, what are you afraid of?" _Oh my god. How many times have we gone over this? I'm trying so hard not to punch him again. And instead of being able to tell him my true feelings I'm forced to sing Christine's.

"_Let's not argue, please pretend"_

"_Let's not argue, I can only hope…" _Is he echoing me now?

"_You will understand in time…" _He takes me by the waist and we join the party goers on the dance floor, spinning in circles. Everyone starts singing in our faces. If I thought Raoul trespassing my personal space was bad, this is much worse. I've never been very claustrophobic, but this is just making me sick (and the spinning is not helping).

"_Masquerade! Paper faces on parade! Masquerade! Hide your face so the world will never find you. Masquerade! Every face a different shade. Masquerade! Look around there's another mask behind you." _If another person so much as THINKS the word masquerade, I'm going to hurl.

"_Masquerade! Burning glances, turning heads. Masquerade! Stop and stare at the sea of smiles around you." _That's it. I break free of Raoul's arms, and tumble onto the ballroom floor. He loses sight of me as dancers separate us. I wiggle my way out, and run for fresh air…I'll spare you the dirty details, but after my stomach empties onto the front steps of the opera, I sit down to catch my breath. I still feel nauseous however the wide space and fresh air is helping. I know I'm supposed to be inside, but I didn't want to ruin anyone's evening. Finally I feel better, so I make my way back inside. The ballroom is peculiarly silent. I hear one familiar haunting voice.

"_As for our star, Miss Christine Daae…" _Oh geez, that's me. I must have missed something big here. There's an awkward silence.

"Umm. Where is Christine?" The Phantom asks, breaking the serious mood.

"Wasn't she with you a moment ago Raoul?" Meg asks.

"Well yes but she, umm, fell into the sea of people, and I-um- I lost track of her." Raoul adds sheepishly.

"You lost track of her?" The Phantom asks, in shock. "Geez. What does she see in you?"

"Has anyone seen Christine? She's about yeh high, and brown curly hair, and-" I run in, cutting short their search.

"Hi sorry! I'm here, I'm here!" Raoul runs up to me like a puppy and hugs me tight.

"Christine! I was so worried."

"Thanks Raoul. That means a lot." I say, while trying to pry him off me.

"Ahm. Ahhm!" The Phantom coughs, bringing our attention back.

"_As for our star, Miss Christine Daae…" _Here we go. _"No doubt she'll do her best. It's true, her voice is good, she knows. Though should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn, if pride will let her return to me, her teacher…her teacher…" _Now he's repeating things too! Maybe it's contagious?

Really dramatic, sorrowful music starts to play, as the Phantom leans close to me, and it looks as if he's ready to break into tears. My heart aches for him for a moment, then he reaches for my chest. I slap him across the face.

"What were you doing?!" I ask, having almost been assaulted like that, and in public no less.

"I was just going to dramatically rip off your engagement ring necklace…" The Phantom whimpers.

"Oh…" I feel guilty and embarrassed now. Everyone in the ballroom is looking at the two of us.

"Sorry, my hand slipped. It seems I've been doing that a lot lately. Just ask Raoul." Raoul nods his head in reply. "You can do your dramatic ripping necklace off thingy."

"Do you promise you won't slap me?"

"What? Of course not, silly. I promise." The Phantom takes a moment to get back into character. The sad music plays again. I tighten my hands at my side so I don't accidentally slap someone.

"_Your chains are still mine, you belong to me!"_ He rips the necklaces from my neck with fiery music accompanying him. Then he turns and runs into a hole that appear out of nowhere.

"Okay. Because that's completely normal." Raoul suddenly rushes past me, and before I can stop him, he jumps into the strange hole that materialized out of nowhere.

"That's a great idea, Raoul. Jumping into mysterious holes head on." I shake my head. "What am I going to do with you?" I reach down to pick up a strange folder with sheet music falling out of it. I read the title scrawled across the top. _Don Juan Triumphant?_ Dear Lord. I take a deep breath. This nightmare will be over soon. I laugh to myself. Nemo's going to get a kick out of this when I tell him-. Oh wait. Nevermind. I forgot for a moment there that I never want to see him again and that I don't need him. Now I'm in a bad mood. I hand the Phantom's opera over to the managers and then storm out to find Raoul.

Today preparations begin to put on the Phantom's Opera. I was supposed to there at 8 am, but I slept in and Raoul left without me and it's now 9:55. I am so late. I remember that they can't fire me or change my part because then the Phantom will have a tantrum. I can't find any sunglasses to cover the purple rings under my eyes from the lack of sleep (because apparently sunglasses weren't that popular back then). I try to cover them up with makeup, but it doesn't really help much. I had a terrible nightmare about the Editors catching me last night, and woke up in the middle of the night screaming. Raoul ran in to comfort me, but that made it worse. He finally left me alone, but I couldn't fall back to sleep. It wasn't until around 5 in the morning that sleep found me. Of course I slept in late, Raoul couldn't wake me, and now I'm really late.

I walk into the rehearsal room, wishing I had had breakfast. I think everyone can tell I'm in a bad mood. Maybe it's because they can feel the irritation radiating from me. Well, everyone except Raoul.

"Good morning Christine. I'm glad you were able to get back to sleep." I don't reply, just glare at him. I can't deal with him this morning.

"Ah! Here's our little flower." Carlotta sneers in her stupid little accent. Of course, I'm about to smack talk her back, but the song continues.

"_Ah, Miss Daae, quite the lady of the hour_!"

"You have secured the largest role in this _Don Juan._"

"Christine Daae? She doesn't have the voice!" Oh snap! Carlotta is asking for it.

"Signora please!"

"_Then I take it you're agreeing_." Raoul sings. How does that at all sound like she's agreeing to it?

"She's behind this…"

"It appears we have no choice."

"_She's the one behind this! Christine Da-" _I slap Carlotta across the face. I know violence isn't the answer, but I couldn't help myself.

"_How dare you!"_

"_I'm not a fool."_

"_You evil woman, how dare you!"_

"_You think I'm blind?"_

"_This isn't my fault. I don't want any part in this plot!" _Wow. I feel like that accurately sums up my feelings. It seems Christine and I finally agree on something.

"Miss Daae, surely…:

"_But why not?"_ Are you kidding me? That manager is as oblivious as Raoul.

"_What does she say?"_

"_It's your decision, but why not?"_

"_She's backing out!"_

"_You have a duty!"_

"_I cannot sing it, duty or not!"_ Everyone seems shocked by this statement. Of course Raoul tries to change my mind.

"_Christine…Christine, You don't have to they can't make you…"_

"_Then I'm NOT going to do it…" _I sing back, making up my own lyrics because these people only seem to listen to me when I'm singing (I'm actually very surprised it worked. I'm not sure why but I'll just go with it). Raoul seems shocked that his speech didn't work. Before we can discuss it any further, Madame Giry appears.

"Please monsieur, another note" Ah, geez, "_Fondest greetings to you all! A few instructions just before rehearsal starts…" _I'm going to sound crazy, but I swear the Phantom starts to take over singing. No one else seems to notice but me, as I start to look around bewildered, while everyone else gives me the "Are you okay?" look.

"_Carlotta must be taught to act…not her normal trick of strutting round the stage. Our Don Juan must lose some weight. It's not healthy in a man of Piangi's age." _That was really harsh, and unnecessary. What does his weight have to do with any of this? I mean, it's not as if the Phantom wants Piangi to lose weight so, like I don't know, if, let's just say hypothetically, the Phantom were to take his place nobody would notice. Nah.

"_And my managers must learn that their place is in an office, not the arts. As for Miss Christine Daae…" _Here we go. I brace myself. _"No doubt she'll do her best, its true her voice is good, she knows, though should she wish to excel, she has much still to learn, if pride will let her return to me, her teacher, her teacher…" _Wait, didn't he already say that? Like, exactly? Okay then.

"Your obedient friend" Oh the irony. "…And Angel…"

"_We have all been blind." _Please no Raoul. _"and yet the answer is staring us in the face…This could be the chance to ensnare our clever friend."_

"_We're listening."_

"_Go on…"_

"Don't encourage him…" I try to plead with them. Of course they ignore me.

"_We shall play his game-perform his work-but remember we hold the ace…For if Miss Daae sings, he is certain to attend…"_

"_We make certain the doors are barred…"_

"_We make certain our men are there…"_

"_We make certain they're armed…"_

"_The curtain falls. His reign will end!" _The three men sing in unison.

"This is never going to-"

"_Madness!_" Madame Giry interrupts me.

"_I'm not so sure."_

"You know, I have been there. I know where he lives."

"_Not if it works…"_

"If some armed men come with me, I could led them to the Phantom."

"_This is madness!"_

"My plan is safer and a lot more practical."

"_The tide will turn!" _

"If you will just listen to me!" Everyone is arguing around me and not listening to what I have to say.

"_Monsieur, believe me-there is no way of turning the tide!"_

"I murdered a man with my bare hands last night and hide him in the chimney of my room!" I yell just to get a reaction. Still nothing. Not even a glance my way. I don't understand. They're all so caught up in their opera.

"_You stick to ballet!"_

"_Then help us!"_

"_Monsieur, I can't"_ Hmmm. Maybe this is my chance to sneak out and grab a quick breakfast. They're all so absorbed in their lines that I'm sure they won't notice I'm even gone.

"_Instead of warning us."_

"_Help us!" _I slowly start to slink along the outside perimeter of the room. So far so good.

"_I wish I could…"_

"_Don't make excuses!" _Halfway there…

"_Or could it be that you're on his side?"_

"_Monsieur, believe me, I intend no ill…but messieurs be careful, we have seen him kill!"_

"_We say he'll fall, and fall he will!" _Aha! I made it. I slip into the hallway as the squabbling continues. Meg walks by. Perfect.

"Meg! Hey, can you do me a huge favor? Can you just buy me some food, I don't care what, just anything! I need some food." I pull out some money.

"Sure Christine."

"You are a saint. Thank you." As she runs off, I poke my head inside to be sure no one's missing me.

"_She's the one behind this! Christine! This is a ploy to help Christine!"_

"_This is the truth! Christine Daae!"_ It's funny because they say my name, but don't actually acknowledge my presence. They just shout at Raoul and the managers and point to where I was standing before. I pull my head back. A few seconds later Meg comes running up down the hallway. I can smell the fresh pastry from here.

"There was a bakery across the street. I hope you're okay with a croissant and fresh baked bread." My mouth waters just thinking about it.

"Meg, girl, I owe you." I take the food and head back inside.

"_This is his undoing!" _Looks like I didn't miss anything.

"_If you succeed you free us all- this so called 'angel' has to fall!" _I sit back and start eating. Enjoying the show.

"_Hear my warning! Fear his fury!"_

"_What glory can she hope to gain? It's clear to all the girl's insane!" _

"_Say your prayers, black angel of death!"_

"_Please don't" _I pause my eating to say.

"_If Christine won't then no one can…"_

"_Monsieur I beg you, do not do this."_

"_Gran Dio! Che imbroglio." _Okay, maybe I am crazy, cause I swear to god I just heard Piangi talk in a different language.

"_This will seal his fate!" _I'm in the middle of eating. Suddenly I start to sing, but there's food in my mouth.

"_If you don't stop, I'll-"_ Oh shit. I start to choke on a piece of croissant I was chewing. I can't even cough or make noise, just helplessly clutch my throat. Everyone stares at me, not sure what to do. I hold up the croissant and show an eating motion. They still don't understand. I run over to the desk and pick up some paper and a pen and scrawl in scratchy handwriting, _Help me I'm CHOKING. _Still nothing. I guess the Heimlich maneuver wasn't invented yet. I'll just have to take things into my own hands. I run over to the chair behind the desk, and put my stomach against it like my teacher taught me in health class. I love how I can remember how to do this, but I can't remember my own name. I place a fist on my abdomen and fold my other hand on top of it. Then I bend over the chair and begin to pump my fist up and down. I hope I'm doing this right. My vision is starting to tunnel. Please work! I never thought I would die this way! What will my parents think? They'll never know what even happened to me. I-

"AHHaoo…" I cough out the object and fall to the floor catching my breath. I cough a few times. I didn't even notice, but it seems Raoul was behind me the entire time. He helps me up.

"Christine. Dear God, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I just choked on some croissant." I put my hand to my mouth. "And I think I'm gonna be sick, but I'm okay."

"Did you see the strange ritual she just did?" Carlotta whispers to Piangi. "I told she was crazy."

"I was choking. That was the Heimlich maneuver. It saved my life, no thanks to you people." Raoul pulls up a chair. I sit in it gladly.

"She's mad." Carlotta says.

"_You said yourself. He was nothing but a man." _I guess we're back to singing. Even after I had a near death experience. The things I have to do for my art. _"Yet while he lives, he will haunt us till we're dead…"_

"_Twisted every way, what answer can I give? Am I to risk my life to win the chance to live?" _Surprisingly I can sing, even though I just choked. _"Can I betray the man who once inspired my voice? Do I become his prey?" _Wait. What? I'm not doing that. _"Do I have any choice?" _Uh oh. _"He kills without a thought, he murders all that's good. I know I can't refuse, and yet I wish I could, oh God if I agree what horrors wait for me, in this the Phantom's opera?" _ I get it. Cause the show is called Phantom of the Opera, and it's the Phantom's opera.

"_Christine, Christine, don't think that I don't care- but every hope and every prayer rests on you now…" _My stomach turns. Oh no.

"I'm gonna be sick…" I get up off the chair and run out. I need to find the nearest bathroom. Again. I'm starting to sense a pattern here, and I do not like it.

After that fiasco, I wonder if I should go rejoin them. I know that I'm going to agree to be in the opera eventually, but I need to make it seem like I'm having a dramatic internal conflict with myself. Where can I go to "contemplate" my problem dramatically and wallow in self-pity? I've got it! A cemetery. Perfect.

I grab a cloak that was conveniently hanging on a rack nearby, and hail a carriage. The driver is cloaked and his face hidden. Very suspicious. I guess I should just get in the carriage with him.

"To the cemetery." I say. I sit down and then we're off. The road is bumpy and the guy's an awful driver.

"Would you mind driving a little more carefully? Some of us would like to not regurgitate their breakfast for the second time this morning."

"Sorry, madam." The driver mumbles.

"Do I know you? You're voice sounds so familiar."

"No you don't. I'm just a lowly carriage driver."

"Are you sure? Hmm. I guess I am getting a little paranoid lately. Sorry about that. But it's nice to meet you. My name's Christine. What's yours?" There's a long pause before he answers.

"John…Smith."

"John Smith? That doesn't sound very French. Are you from around here?"

"Umm. No."

"Really. Where are you from originally then?"

"England."

"Nice. What part of England?"

"London."

"Ahh. I love London. I went there with my parents. I think. I don't know, I've been having a lot of memory issues lately. But I do believe that I enjoyed it thoroughly. So anyway, have you seen Big Ben then? Or the Tower of London? I hear they executed people there. Sorry execute. I forgot that this is the 19th century or whatever. Do you still execute people? Personally I am very against that because I believe that all life is precious, but there are some people out there who could care less. It's a shame really beca-"

"We're here." The driver answers, with a little too much relief.

"Well thank you very much, Mr. John Smith from London. It has been a pleasure meeting you and I wish you good luck with your carriage driving." He speeds away. I realize I forgot to pay him. That's strange. You would think an experienced carriage driver like John Smith would remember things like that.

Anyho, now that I'm at the cemetery I guess I could just wander around. Then the music starts to play. I assume I'm singing then. This must be _Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again._

"_You were once my one companion, you were all that mattered. You were once a friend and father. Then my world was shattered…Wishing you were somehow here again. Wishing you were somehow near. Sometimes it seemed if I just dreamed, somehow you would be here." _Oh look at that statue of an angel. I have seen too many Doctor Who episodes to feel comfortable around that. I stare at it aggressively without blinking.

"_Wishing I could hear you voice again. Knowing that I never would. Dreaming of you won't help me to do. All that you dreamed I could. Passing bells and sculpted angels, cold and monumental. Seem for you the wrong companions, you were warm and gentle." _Still staring at the angel. I am not going to make the mistake of turning around.

"_Too many years fighting back tears, why can't the past just die? Wishing you were somehow here again. Knowing we must say 'Goodbye'. Try to forgive, teach me to live, give me the strength to try. No more memories" _Actually I would like to keep my memories because it is very annoying not having any. _"no more silent tear, no more gazing across the wasted years. Help me say, "Goodbye". Help me say "Goodbye"." _

That's enough dramatic contemplation for one day. The angel never moved, so I think I'm safe. Time to go home and-

"_Wandering child, so lost so helpless, yearning for my guidance…" _Maybe not.

"_Angel or father, friend or Phantom? Who is it there, staring?" _Call it a hunch, but something tells me that's the Phantom. _"Have you forgotten_ _your Angel?"_

"_Angel, oh, speak, I miss endless longings. Echo in this whisper." _What does that mean? I don't even know if that's English anymore. Oh look, there's Raoul. Great. It's a whole party.

"_To long you've wandered in winter." _Christine's "father" sings. _"far from my fatherly gaze." _It just occurred to me how creepy it is that the Phantom is pretending to be "my" father.

"_Once again she is his. Once again she returns." _Raoul adds.

"_Wildly my mind beats against you," _the first smart thing Christine has said this entire- _"yet my soul obeys." _Nevermind.

"_You resist yet your soul obeys." _That's it. This deserves a face palm.

"_In the arms of her Angel of Music." _Raoul sings, while hiding behind a gravestone. Does he think I can't see him?

"_Angel of Music, I denied you." _

"_Angel of Music, you denied me."_

"_Angel or demon? Still he calls you…"_

"_Turning from true beauty." _The Phantom and I sing in unison, oh sorry, the "Angel" and I sing in unison.

"_Angel of music, my protector." _Dear Lord, how many times do I need to say this, just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I need protection!

"_Angel of Music, do not shun me." _Maybe he should have thought of that before killing someone.

"_Come to me strange Angel…"_

"_I am your Angel of Music…" _I turn and see him standing there on tomb of the mausoleum. Yep that's the Phantom. Wearing a hat with some feathers isn't going to trick anyone, well except for Christine apparently. But for Pete's sake, he's still wearing his mask! _"Come to me Angel of Music!" _That's it, I'm going home. I throw my hands up to show I've given up and start to walk away.

"_Angel of darkness, cease this torment!" _Raoul yells. Does he not see I'm walking away?

"_I am your Angel of Music, come to the Angel of Music."_

"Christine, Christine! Listen to me. Whatever you believe this man, this _thing_, is not your father!"

"Okay Raoul, I get it."

"_I am your Angel of Music."_

"Let her go. For God's sake, let her go!"

"I'm walking away of my own accord!"

"Christine!"

"RAOUL!" He smiles at me, finally acknowledging what I've been trying to say. He runs up to me and wraps his arms around me and tries to kiss me, but I lean back out of reach.

"Right now Raoul? Can't this wait?"

"Bravo monsieur, such spirited words!" Suddenly a fireball erupts from the ground.

"HOOLLLY SHHHHIIIIITTTT!" I jump back.

"More tricks monsieur?" Raoul asks challengingly.

"Don't encourage him Raoul."

"Let's see monsieur, how far you dare go!" Another fireball flies up.

"WHAT?! Where are these things coming from?"

"More deception? More violence?" Raoul asks. Did he not learn his lesson about the fireballs the first time?

"Raoul, do you have a death wish?"

"That's right, that's right monsieur, keep walking this way!" The Phantom says playfully. Meanwhile fireballs are popping up everywhere.

"How is he doing this? We are in the middle of a freaking CEMETERY!"

"You can't win her love by making her your prisoner." Not a good time to mention Stockholm syndrome.

"Stay back!" Raoul says to me.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere nears those fireballs today. I forgot my fireproof dress at home!"

"I'm here, I'm here, monsieur. The Angel of Death! Come on, come on, monsieur. Don't stop, don't stop!" As much as I don't want to, Raoul is going to get himself killed this way, and I don't want to be responsible for that. Wait a second. I'm an idiot! I've had the Ice Queen's wand in my back pocket the whole time! I hit myself on the forehead. Duh. Time to do something about Raoul. I point the wand but nothing happens. That's not good. Maybe if I concentrate really hard. I scrunch my brow and focus on the fireballs. A tiny wisp of snow comes out. I guess the magic weakened because I left Narnia? I don't know. I still have no choice but to try again. I put both hands on the wand, and focus all my energy to the tip of it. "AAHHHHHHH! Work already!" To my surprise, suddenly ice comes shooting out of the wand. The force pushes me back, and I almost lose my balance. I freeze the fireballs. I can't control it though, and I don't know how to stop it. I take a step back, but slip on the ice. "WAAAOO!" I land on my butt, and the wand goes flying away. It's still spraying ice. It seems both Raoul and the Phantom get caught in the blast of ice, and are now frozen. I pick up the wand, and it stops. Just like that. I walk up cautiously to Raoul. He's frozen in an accusatory stance, pointing angrily at the Phantom. The Phantom is frozen in a similar stance, except pointing angrily at Raoul.

"Raoul? Are you okay? Can you hear me?" Oh geez. I hope this isn't permanent. I tap on him. Nothing. This is probably a really terrible idea after what just happened, but I take the wand and poke Raoul with it. To my shock, a light begins to emit from the tip and spreads over Raoul. It envelopes him and then it disappears. However, it worked and he is unfrozen now.

"Whhaa, what happened?" He says, clearly a little delirious from being frozen alive.

"Honestly, I'm not really sure." Then Raoul collapses. I lean in to catch him, but he's really heavy and I fall over with him. Then I get up, and head over to the Phantom. I go through the same process with the Phantom and he also collapses while murmuring something about "war upon you both". I have no idea what that means. I lie the Phantom down and make sure he's comfortable before I leave. Then I pick up Raoul, decide he's too heavy to lift, and just drag him to the nearest carriage. Then we head back to the opera house, where I proceed to flop onto the nearest bed from exhaustion. Now I only have to make it through _Don Juan Triumphant_ and I'll be one step closer to going home.


	14. Chapter 14

**Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying my fanfic. If you are, please feel free to review! It really means the world to me. Even if you have criticisms, I totally want to hear them! And as I am writing this, the most popular books list has changed. So the order of the stories that I'm going through is a little different than the one currently up there. Sorry about that but nothing I can do. I'm just gonna keep writing in the order I was originally going in (Don't worry, still includes Harry Potter, LOTR, Maximum Ride, Warriors, etc.) So enjoy, and please R&R!**

Today's the day. I take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. I had another one of those "fast-forward" moments. A moment ago I was in the cemetery with Raoul, now I'm in my dressing room, staring at myself in the mirror. This thing is so inconsistent! Perhaps because it was over a long period of time, it fast-forwarded me to the important part? Nemo would know…I look away from myself in disgust. I don't need Nemo's help. I don't want his help. Not from someone who wants to suppress other people's rights because of what they were born as or what they look like.

I try to comfort myself by fixing my makeup in the mirror. Unfortunately I catch sight of my face. It looks horrendous. I hope it doesn't appear this way to everyone else. It's a mix match of different facial features from all the different characters and stories. My eyes don't match, one of my eyebrows are higher than the other, and my hair is wildly curly, and a strange shade of brown with hints of white from when I was the Ice Queen. How does Nemo always look so relatively normal? I turn away from the mirror just as Raoul pops his head in (without knocking I might add).

"Ready to go, sweetie?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Don't worry, this plan is fool-proof."

"I could literally write a book about how many things could go wrong with this plan, Raoul." He laughs, as if I said something comical.

"Can you imagine? A woman writing a book? Preposterous." My eye twitches, but I brush the comment off.

"It's not too late to grab some police officers, I know where the Phantom lives, so I could guide you guys there and we can set some traps and catch the Phantom-" Raoul rolls his eyes and interrupts me.

"Silly Christine. The police would be too tired from the long trek down there that they would be unable to successfully fight the Phantom."

"Raoul, that makes no logical sense, but whatever. Let's just go ahead with your plan, but don't say I didn't tell you so."

I walk onstage as the music begins, and sit down at the table that's been put there. My dress is way too tight, and my boobs are basically falling out of them. I don't feel comfortable in this costume. I hate this already.

"_Go away for the trap is set, and it waits for its preeeyyy…" _A familiar voice rings in the background. Could it possibly be the _Phantom_? I wonder. A masked person (Phantom) appears onstage and begins to sing.

"_You have come here. In pursuit of your deepest urge. In pursuit of that wish which till now has been silent. Silent."_ I hate this, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this.

"_I have brought you. That our passions may fuse and merge. In your mind you've already succumbed to me, dropped all defenses, completely succumbed to me." _That's it. When this is all over, I'm going to give everyone in this musical a nice long lecture on treating women like equal human beings. Oh no. The Phantom is slowly moving closer to the bench I'm sitting on.

"_Now you are here with me. No second thoughts. You've decided. Decided." _Decided? Decided on what? My eyes widen as the Phantom sits down next to me.

"_Past the point of no return. No backward glances. Our games of make-believe are at an end. Past all thought of 'if' or 'when'."_ He scoots closer to me and carefully reaches his hand out to my waist. I scoot away.

"_No use resisting. Abandon thought and let the dream descend. What raging fire shall flood the soul? What rich desire unlocks its door? What sweet seduction lies before us?" _He scoots closer, I scoot away.

"_Past the point of no return, the final threshold, what warm unspoken secrets will we learn?" _He scoots closer, and I scoot away, but unfortunately I scoot right off the end of the bench onto my butt (which still hurts from when I slipped in the cemetery). _"Beyond the point of no return."_

I stand up and rub my posterior and I start to sing, _"You have brought me, to that moment when words run dry. To that moment when speech disappears into silence, silence." _Not the repeating again! Wait a moment, if I can show Raoul it's the Phantom they'll shoot him. It's probably not going to work, but worth a try.

"_I have come here hardly knowing the reason why. In my mind I've already imagined our bodies entwining, defenseless and silent. Now I am here with you, no second thoughts, I've decided, decided." _I point to the Phantom and cover half my face, but Raoul doesn't understand. Then I motion as if I'm hanging myself, but he doesn't catch that reference either.

"_Past the point of no return, no going back now. Our passion play has now at last begun." _Dear Lord, Christine what are you thinking? Why are you going along with this? _"Past all thought of right or wrong. One final question. How long should we two wait before we're one?" _Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Meanwhile, I'm making a finger gun and miming shooting the Phantom, to see if Raoul can understand I'm telling him to shoot because it's the Phantom, but I think Raoul's fallen asleep.

"_When will the blood begin to race, the sleeping bud burst into bloom? When will the flames at last consume us?" _I just give up. I try to run offstage, but the Phantom catches me and pulls me back. So close. _"Past the point of no return, the final threshold. The bridge is crossed, so stand and watch it burn." _The Phantom has turned me to face him, and he's clutching my hands so I can't get away. I think Raoul's still asleep. There's only one choice for me now.

"_We've passed the point of no retur-"_ Before we can even finish the song, I tear off the Phantom's mask. I hear gasps of shock from the audience. For some reason the police officers don't fire though. I turn to find Raoul still asleep.

"RAOUL! Wake up, you numbskull!"

"Whaa? What happened?"

"Nice of you to join us. It's the PHANTOM."

"…"

"Time to put your plan into action."

"Ohh. Right. Guards. Fire at will."

"Haha." I laugh triumphantly. "Looks like we've got you…" I look over at the Phantom and he has his puppy dog eyes on. I stop and stare.

"That's not gonna work on me." I can hear the waver in my voice.

"_Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime." _

"Oh no. Not the sad song."

"_Lead me, save me from my solitude."_

"Are you trying to guilt trip me?"

"_Anywhere you go let me go too…"_

"Hey, that's my song." Raoul says from the audience.

"_Christine that's all I ask of you."_ I lean in to give him a hug, because his guilt tripping worked, and now I feel really guilty. However, just as I lean in, he lunges out and grabs me and the trap door below us drops, and we're hurdling down at a hundred miles an hour.

"I REEEAAALLLLLLYYY SHOULD HAVE SEEN THIS CCOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMIIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGGGGG!" I shout in horror, angry, and self-loathing.

After the plummeting fall into the sewers, with the Phantom he tries to drag me against my will down the tunnel. Unfortunately for him I am very feisty and put up a good fight (as Bob from the Outsiders can attest to). He tries to pull me by the hand, but I rip my arm away and try to make a run for it. Unfortunately for me, the Phantom has a lot of time on his hands, which he apparently uses to work out because he is unbelievably strong. He grabs my waist and throws me across his shoulder. I kick my legs but it does nothing.

"_Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair! Down we plunge to the prison of my mind! Down that path into darkness deep as hell! Why you ask was I bound and chained in this cold and dismal place? Not for any mortal sin, but the wickedness of my abhorrent face!"_

"You think you're the only one to ever be tortured because of how they looked, or who they were, or who they loved? But they're not becoming homicidal stalker, now kidnapper, maniacs. They fight through it an-"

"_Track down this murderer! He must be found!" _The background chorus interrupts me. As soon as the Phantom hears them coming closer, he increases his speed and ignores me.

"_Hounded out by everyone! Met with hatred everywhere! No kind word from anyone! No compassion anywhere! Christine, Christine…Why, why?"_

"Maybe it's because you _murdered several people_. Did that ever occur to you?"

"_Track down this murderer he must be found! Track down this murderer he must be found! Hunt out this animal, who runs to ground! To long he's preyed on us but now we now, the Phantom of the opera is here, deep down inside. He's here the Phantom of the Opera. He's here the Phantom of the Opera."_

"Would you people shut up!? I mean really, are they trying to sneak up on us? Because it's really not working…" Unluckily for me, we arrive at the underground cave before the mob can get to us. The Phantom holds up the wedding dress. I cross my arms defiantly.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes. You will put on the dress."

"No. It's degrading. And I would like to point out no matter how hard you try we can't actually legally get married because I'm never going to give my willing consent, you're a murderer and a fugitive, and you don't even have a priest."

"It's not about the legal aspect, it's symbolic. I want you to agree to stay here with me forever."

"Forever?"

"Forever…"

"That's a very long time. I don't think I'm ready for that big a commitment…"

"Just put the dress on."

"No."

"We can have this argument after you put the dress on."

"No."

"Fine. You've forced me to do something I really don't want to do…_Say you'll share with me one life, one lifetime…"_

"That worked on me the first time, but never again."

"_Say the word and I will follow you."_

"Nope."

"_Share each day with me, each night, each m-"_

"Fine! I'll put the stupid dress on. But only because I feel guilty, not because you are manipulating me." I put the stupid dress on, angry at myself for giving into the sad song again.

"_Have you gorged yourself at last in your lust for blood? Am I now to be prey to your lust for flesh?" _Eeeewwww. I'm not ready for that.

"_That fate which comdemns me to wallow in blood, has also denied me the joys of the flesh…" _Oh my god. He really needs a girlfriend. Just not me.

"_This face- the infection which poisons our love…"_ Or it could have been all the stalking, murdering, and kidnapping. _"This face, which earned a mother's fear and loathing… A mask, my first unfeeling scrap of clothing…" _Dammit. Not the sad song.

"_Pity comes too late- turn around and face your fate: an eternity of this before your eyes!" _

"_This haunted face holds no horror for me now…It's in your soul that the true distortion lies." _Thank you for finally saying something sensible Christine.

"Wait. _I think, my dear, we have a guest! Sir, this is indeed an unparalleled delight! I had rather hoped you would come. And now my wish comes trues- you have truly made my night!"_

"_Free her! Do what you like only free her! Have you no pity?" _It's Raoul. Fantastic (That's sarcasm).

"_Your lover makes a passionate plea!"_

"Raoul. You are useless."

"_I love her! Does that mean nothing? I love her! Show some compassion…"_

"The world showed no compassion to me!"

"_Christine, Christine, let me see her."_

"You can't see me? I'm standing right here."

"_Be my guest sir… monsieur, I bid you welcome! Did you think that I would harm her? Why should I make her pay for the sins which are yours?" _And of course, the Phantom successfully lassos Raoul around the neck. This deserves an ultimate facepalm.

"My hero." I say sarcastically.

"_Order your fine horses now! Raise up your hand to the level of your eyes! Nothing can save you now, except perhaps Christine…" _Greeeaaat.

"_Start a new life with me, buy his freedom with your love! Refuse me and you send your lover to his death! This is the choice, this is the point of no return…"_

"This is the wrong way to get a girlfriend…_The tears I might have shed for your dark fate grow cold, and turn to tears of hate!"_

"_Christine, forgive me please forgive me…I did it all for you and all for nothing."_

"Yeah. Seriously Raoul, that was the worst rescue I've ever- _Farewell my fallen idol and false friend…We had such hopes and now those hopes are shattered!"_

"_Too late for turning back, too late for prayers and useless pity!"_

"_Say you love him and my life is over!"_

"Not helping Raoul!"

"_All hope of cries for helps; no point in fighting!"_

"_For either way you choose, you cannot win!"_

"_So do you end your days with me or do you send him to his grave?" _

"_Why make her lie to you, to save me?"_

"_Angel of music…" _

"_Past the point of no return-"_

"_For pity's sake, Christine say no!"_

"Honestly, I'm really close to letting him strangle yo- _who deserves this?"_

"_the final threshold…"_

"_Don't throw your life away for my sake!"_

"_When will you see reason?"_

"_His life is now the prize which you must earn!"_

"_I've fought so hard to free you…"_

"Is that what you call fighting hard, Raoul? _Angel of Music…"_

"_You've passed the point of no return."_

"_You deceived me" _It's kind of my fault for believing him though. _"I gave my mind blindly." _

"You try my patience, make your choice!" The Phantom stands with Raoul's fate in his hands, and they stare so intently at me, and for the first time in a while, I'm speechless.

"I-I…How am I supposed to choose? Everything about this is so wrong. It goes against everything I stand for. This isn't love, it's basically prostitution. It also is so insulting to me that you want me only for my body. What about my personality? What about- about? You know what. I'm done. I can't do this anymore." I sit down on the cold cave floor in defeat. "I have all these mixed up feelings inside. I can't focus anymore. You see, there's this guy and he's been by my side since the beginning of this whole ordeal. We goofed around together and had a lot of fun. He was also so frustrating sometimes though, and we argued a lot, but we got into this huge fight because he didn't agree with something I was doing, and now he's gone. But I feel conflicted because…because I miss him. There I said it! I'm trying to forget him, but my mind just keeps coming back to him. I don't understand what these feelings are. I don't know if I would necessarily describe them as "love", but I want to repair our friendship. In all honesty though, I don't think I'm strong enough to be the one who apologizes (although really it should be him who apologizes). Even if I wanted to I don't know where to start because I have no idea where he is or how to contact him. I just feel so…overwhelmed by the whole situation and this is not helping and I just don't know how much longer I can do this." I pull my breath back under control. I had a bit of a breakdown there. My hands pull my hair because I'm stressed. I stare up at the Phantom and Raoul. They're speechless for a few seconds, then the Phantom speaks.

"Well, it seems to me, that if this person cared for you in return, and showed it to you in ways, like say, getting you all the leads in the opera house, or building a wax replica of you and putting a wedding dress on it, I think you should go for it." Raoul's shaking his head.

"No, no, no. Clearly if this person cared for you, and showed you his love by fighting off your crazy stalker in a graveyard with fireballs, and formulating a plan to catch this crazy stalker (while only putting you in a little danger), and going after you once that plan backfires completely and putting his life at risk for yours, _then_ I think you should totally hook up with him."

"Well," The Phantom interrupts. "Just out of curiosity, does this 'guy' have fabulously sleeked black hair and wear an elegant mask over his face?"

"Or does he have long blond fabulous hair that all others would die for?"

"Ummm…Not really-"

"I think the answer is obviously the first one."

"No, it's the latter."

"No."

"Yes it is."

"No it isn't."

"Oh my god. You two are hopeless. I can't believe I just confided in you some of my deepest darkest feelings. I really am going insane." I shake my head.

"Actually, I do have some advice." The Phantom says. This is gonna be great. "Even if you can't find him, wouldn't it be worth it just to try?"

"Perhaps if you listen to his side of the argument, you can understand his point of view and resolve the entire thing." Raoul adds. "Wow." I sit there in shock. "That was actually decent advice…"

"So, does that mean you'll marry me?" The Phantom asks.

"Don't do it Christine. We're engaged!"

"You have a point." I say to myself. Both Raoul and the Phantom look really excited. "If I can find Nemo and get his side of the argument, maybe we could understand each other's points of view and forgive each other."

"Wait. Who's Nemo?" The Phantom asks in shock. "Did you know about this?" He asks Raoul.

"No. I have no idea. How long have you been seeing this person? Were you planning on telling me?"

"What? No, no. We're just friends." I try to explain.

"That's what they all say." Raoul says.

"Can I have an address? Does he work at the opera? Is there a point in time when I can kill him and make it conveniently look like an accident?" I facepalm.

"You two really are hopeless. If I told you Nemo was a girl, would you drop it?" They glance at each other.

"Maybe."

"Okay. Well, 'he's' a she. Satisfied? Will you please not try to hunt him, sorry "her" down and murder her? Phantom?"

"Yeah" He mumbles.

"What was that?"

"Fine."

"Good. I better not catch you breaking this promise." I look at them both, standing there like cute little puppy dogs trying to strangle each other. "You guys really impressed me." I give them each a huge and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you."

The Phantom stands there in shock, holding his cheek as if I had punched him (which I didn't). But Raoul isn't as pleased. "But Christine, you never chose!" I slowly turn my head and give Raoul a death stare.

"Raoul…I swear to God I will- _Pitiful creature of darkness…" _I'm singing now apparently, but I'm still silently threating Raoul. _"What kind of life have you known? God give me courage to show you, you are not alone…" _I lean in and kiss the Phantom, (I can't help it he was giving me the puppy dog eyes again, plus this is how it is supposed to end). I stand back as the realization hits me that this may be my first kiss. I can't remember. Oh my god…

"Does this mean we're not getting married?" Raoul asks, on the verge of tears.

"No, I just kissed him. It's not a-"

"_Track down this murderer he must be found! Hunt out this animal, who runs to ground! Too long he's preyed on us, but now we know, the Phantom of the opera is there, deep down inside!" _a look of horror falls across the Phantom's face. He looks back and forth at Raoul and me.

"Take her- forget me- forget all of this…Leave me alone- forget all you've seen…Go now, don't let them find you! Take the boat, leave me now, swear never to tell, the secrets you know, of the angel in hell! _Go now! Go now and leave me!"_

Raoul grabs my arm as we run away, but I stop.

"Christine, what are you doing?"

"This is the end of the show. I need to get out of here."

"That's what we're doing. Quick, before he changes his mind."

"That's not what I mean. I need to find a door, or a cliff I can fall off of."

"What in God's name are you talking about?"

"You're not going to be any help. Phantom!" I run to him, he looks surprised I haven't left yet. "Is there a door or anything here? Or nearby?"

"No. There's the gateway and the cave arches but no doors."

"Ahh…But there has to be _something._" I survey the room, but only see covered mirrors, candles, and the organ. Then my eyes settle on one particularly large, full length mirror.

"Do you mind?" I ask the Phantom, pointing at the curtain covering the mirror. He shakes his head, while still looking confused. I pull the curtain down and grab a candle stand next to it. I remove the candles and then with all my force hit the candelabra into the mirror, as if I was hitting a baseball with a baseball bat.

"Christine? What are you doing!?" The Phantom and Raoul are now both gawking at my actions. I continue to hit away at the mirror until most of the shards are gone.

"I need a door, so I'm going to make one." I pull out the wand from before. "Please, please, please work." I point the wand at the frame of the mirror. I picture a door in my mind, with the carved squares, and a glass handle, and little squeaky door-hinges. I open my eyes, and yell "WORK!" and ice comes blasting out of the wand. I stand my ground as the force tries to push me away. Suddenly I hear the mob coming down the hallway. I focus on the makeshift door, and yell "STOOOPPPP!" I'm amazed as the wand follows my directions. My guess would be perhaps because I'm no longer the Ice Queen, the wand can't just understand what I want to do telepathically. It really makes no sense. But at least it worked. I reach out for the handle and try to do what I did last time in Narnia. I turn it and begin to step through. I can faintly hear the Phantom and Raoul screaming in the background, just as I almost feel a hand brush against my back, I step through and all of it, the screaming, the mob, and the hand, fall away.

**YAY! Phantom is done. I hope you liked it. Next is Maximum Ride. I've already started working on the next chapter, so I should be able to post it soon. THANKS FOR READING!**


	15. Chapter 15

The cave is gone, disappeared. I'm standing in a bedroom. A completely average, normal bedroom. Not _my_ bedroom, but it'll do.

"It worked." I smile to myself. Now I just have to figure out where I am and I can-

"Where are we?" I hear a familiar voice behind me say.

"What in God's name?" Another male voice adds. My eye twitches. I turn around slowly, and freeze.

"Christine, where are we?" It seems Raoul and the Phantom somehow followed me here (not sure where "here" is…).

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" I screech in panic. "How is this even possible? I did everything right, at least I think I did. I didn't even know something like this could happen!" I pace back and forth around the room talking to myself. "How can I fix this? Maybe if we-" There's a sudden knock on the door. I throw my hands over Raoul and the Phantom's mouths to shut them up.

"Max? Are you okay in there? I heard screaming." I assume I'm Max.

"What yeah, I'm fine. Just um, getting dressed." I shove the Phantom and Raoul into a closet just as a short little kid with spiky hair wearing pajamas comes in.

"Mornin' Max."

"Mornin', um…little one." The closet door creeps open as the Phantom and Raoul try to get out, and I lean against it trying to act casual.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Well, it's um, a- a surprise?" I say. The kid just shakes his head and walks out in a sleepy daze. I breathe a sigh of relief. Then I open the closet.

"How could you do that to me Christine?" Raoul whines. "The Phantom almost strangled me again."

"He was asking for it, he stepped on my cape."

"Look you two," I say, straightening them out. "This is too complicated to explain, but if you love me you'll listen to me."

"I would do anything for you Christine." The Phantom says.

"No, I would do anything and _everything _for you Christine." Raoul challenges.

"No-" The Phantom begins.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Look, I just need you two to hide out in this closet until I come and get you. Don't talk to anyone, don't do anything. Don't. Even. Breathe. Just stay put. When I come back, I'll try to explain things and get you back home. Can you do that for me?"

"Anything for you Christine." They say in tandem.

"Great, so just" I say while shoving them back into the closet. "Stay in there." I catch sight of an umbrella lying on the floor in the corner of the room. I carefully push it through the closet handles, so they can't get out.

"Just to be safe." I whisper to myself. Now I have to figure out where I am. I peek my head outside into the hallway. It seems so ordinary. I walk towards the kitchen. Along the walls there are pictures of the kid I encountered already, surrounded by some other kids. In one picture an adult also accompanies them, but besides that, it's only them. I find the kitchen, where the kid is already sitting at the table.

"Hey, so breakfast?" I ask the kid, but he's fallen asleep at the table.

"I'll assume that's a yes." I begin foraging through the fridge, but it's as barren as Antarctica. Then I get a prickling sensation at the back of my neck. I straighten and spin around.

"Wwaaaa! What was that?!"

"What? Me breathing?" The dark shadow along the wall answers. To my shock, it comes to life and it's really another kid. He has long dark hair, and by long, I mean really long. Like longer than mine.

"Ahh...Right…Breathing." I feel faint already. This place is so confusing.

"I'll make eggs." Yet another kid calls out. This one's also tall, but lighter in complexion than the other one.

"Geez, these kids are popping up all over the place." I murmur to myself.

"What was that Max?" The one with the dark hair asks.

"What? Oh nothing. Just talking to myself."

"Don't you think you should go wake up Nudge and Angel?" He suggests.

"Um. Right yeah. Totally. I'll go do that now…" I wander back into the hallway. I try room after room without finding a living soul, until I finally wander across one with a girl passed out on a bed.

"Nudge?" I ask. And she twitches. "Hey Nudge, Nudgiepo (can I call you that?), it's time to wake up. Up and at'em. Another day, get up and face it." She doesn't move. "Alright, I guess we're doing this the hard way…" I roll up my sleeves, and throw her blankets off dramatically. Then I grab her legs and pull as hard as I can. She doesn't even budge. I push and I pull, but I get nothing. Finally, I can't take it anymore and I keel over from exhaustion. As my body makes a _thud_ as I hit the floor, she finally stirs.

"Wha?" She says, still faint from sleep.

"Breakfast…in…five." I say from the floor.

"Hi Max." I hear from above me. I rise to find a little girl peering out from some curtains along the wall. "Can you do my buttons?" She asks innocently. I get up and start to button her shirt. Then she tilts her head and starts giving me a funny look.

"Max?"

"Yes?"

"No." Uh oh. My eye twitches, but I keep my smile on.

"No? What do you mean no? I'm your Max."

"No. You're not."

"What? How do you know?" I ask bewildered.

"I can read minds." I stare at her a moment. I blink twice to be sure I'm not imagining things.

"You read minds."

"Yes. And now you're thinking about how you can convince me you are Max, but it's not going to work."

"Wait. Look, please, I can explain…"

"You don't have to. I can read your mind. I understand what you've been through and how you've gotten here…it just doesn't make sense."

"Yeah. You don't have to tell me that. But I need to get through this story, and it would really mean a lot to me if you helped me out so I could get home-"

"If I help you do you think the real Max would come back?"

"Well, there's no point lying to you, so honestly I don't know. But I think it's your best shot." She's silent for a moment. Then she nods her head. She fills me in on who Max is, what the "flock" is, the members of the flock, some institute called "the school" that performed experiments on people, and that apparently I have wings.

"Wow. Hold the phone. I have wings?"

"Yes. The whole flock does."

"That is so freaking awesome." I exclaim. This is some of the best news I've had in a while. Wings. That is so cool.

"You got all the names?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"If anything happens that you're confused on, I'll help you out."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it."

"I would do anything for Max." She takes my hand and leads me to the kitchen. There I finally identify the rest of the family members as Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang. This isn't so hard.

"I want to go pick strawberries." Angel says, sweetly. "They're ripe now."

"Okay Angel, I'll go with you." Gazzy agrees, just as he "let's one rip". The moment the smell hits my nostrils I start to choke. I grab my neck and then collapse onto the floor, gasping for breath.

"Max, are you okay?" Iggy says, nudging me with his foot.

"She's just feeling little headed today." Angel explains for me.

"Need…fresh…air…" I gasp. I say before collapsing again.

"Then it's settled, we'll all go pick some strawberries." Nudge says with a smile.

The fresh air really does make me feel better. It's been a while since I felt a real summer breeze. As we walk Angel grabs my hand. "You're doing well." She whispers in my ears. Then she says louder, "If you make a cake, I can make strawberry shortcakes." She says loudly, so everyone else can hear.

"Yeah, that'll be the day, when Max makes a cake." I hear Iggy say.

"Well _excuse_ me for not conforming to the social norms of women being belonging in the kitchen."

"What does that even mean?" He asks, but he's laughing. In fact everyone is laughing hard. Angel pulls on my hand and whispers in my ear, "I forgot to mention that Gasman can mimic any sound or voice."

"Is that so?" I ask, a little fazed. That is probably one of the most annoying powers a person could possibly have. "Gazzy, was that you?" Before he can answer, I hear Angel next to me scream. Startled, I stare down at her, and in the next second men with wolfish muzzles huge canines, and reddish glinting eyes dropped out of the sky like spiders.

"HOLY SHIT! What the hell are those things?!" I shout. The rest of the family, and even some of the monster creature wolf things look at me confused.

"Erasers!" Angel shrieks, helping me out.

"Ohh…Right I remember. I meant, Erasers! They're bad right? So let's take them out …Go team?" They all spring into action. I follow after them, even though in all honestly I'm a little apprehensive about going up against these fierce "Eraser" things. I put aside my fears though, and launch myself at the nearest Eraser. I plant a roundhouse kick in his chest.

"Holy cow. I am enjoying these new fighting skills." I say to myself, as I plunge back into the battle. In all honesty, I'm probably having way more fun than I should be. I'm fighting for my life, but it feels nice to get my anger out on someone. Especially that one guy, who I went a little cannibalistic on. I didn't bite him hard, just hard enough to draw blood. I then jump on the back of the nearest Eraser and pull as hard as I can on his long spiky hair. It's very soft.

"Probably a bad time, but what shampoo do you use!?" I ask, honestly interested. He doesn't answer, just grabs me, and flings me to the ground. He roars in my face.

"Wow. Sorry for asking!" I kick him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. Just as I get up, I see Angel getting kidnapped by some of the Erasers.

"Angel!" I run towards her. I can't let them take my only hope in surviving this story away from me (plus I have grown a little attached to her, but who wouldn't with that cute little face?). Then two Erasers fall on me, and pinned me down. One of them leans over me, smiling horribly.

"_Max,_ good to see you again."

"Do I know you?" I wheeze out.

"You don't recognize me?"

"Don't take it personally. I'm having a bad day."

"You don't recognize me? I guess I've grown some."

"Is that supposed to be some sort of clue as to who you are? Cause it's not helping"

"You still don't know who I am?"

"Hate to break it to you, but your long sharp fangs aren't ringing any bells. Can't you just tell me your name?"

"Ari."

"Hmm…Still not ringing any bells. Can I get back to you?" I ask just as his boot comes down onto my head knocking me out cold.

"Max?" I hear Gazzy calling to me.

"Ahhhhouuuu." I moan trying to brush off the fuzziness from being knocked out. "Whaa happened?" Everyone's silent. Then the memory returns to me, along with some others, about the flock, the School (not the nicest of memories), and Jeb Batchelder and his son, Ari.

"Where's Angel?" I ask, concerned about her. Fang looks me right in the eye and says, "She's gone. They took her." I stare intensely at the ground. I know the rest of the flock is waiting for how I'm going to react. I don't know what Max would do, but I do know exactly what I'm going to do.

"Then it's decided…" I stand up shakily and turn and start to walk away.

"Max!" I hear Gazzy call out to me.

"Max, where are you going? You can't just abandon Angel!" Nudge begs. I turn and look at her.

"I'm not. I'm going after her." I smile mischievously, "Anyone else care to join me?" They all stare at me.

"Yes." Nudge says in a tear-choked voice.

"I'm up." Iggy agrees. The Gasman nods solemnly at me. I look at Fang and we just lock eyes and he nods.

"Alright then team, let's-" My speech is interrupted by the faint sound of an engine.

"_There."_ Iggy says, pointing.

"Okay gang. Looks like our rescue mission is going to start early. I hope you're all up for kicking some butt." I start to run in the direction of the noise. The others join me, but in a few seconds unfurl their wings and start to fly. I decide to give it a shot too, so I unfurl my wings. Instead of taking to the air though, the wind catches it strangely and it causes me to tumble backwards.

"Max are you okay?" Nudge asks from high above.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Keep going, I'll catch up." I hope. I try again, this time aiming my wings downward when I unfurl them. It works and the wind propels me into the air. I scream in excitement. Flying is one of the most incredible feelings. The world grows smaller beneath me. It's my first time, but Max's instincts take over and I'm flying gracefully as if I had been doing it all my life. Damn, I wish I had been doing this all my life. I do a somersault in the air, and then I remember I'm on a mission. I have to focus. I speed up and catch up to the flock.

Together we head towards the Humvee in tight formation. Fang grabs a tree branch and smashes it against the vehicle's front windshield. It swerves, and a window rolls down. I see a gun barrel poke out and dodge to the side.

"Angel! We're coming." Just as we get ready to full out attack, the car brakes awkwardly, sliding in the mud. Erasers pour out of the car. One of them throws a grenade, and we all fall backwards fast as it explodes in front of us. Then I see the familiar shape of Ari, running towards a helicopter with a sack over his shoulder. It must be Angel. I fly towards him. Just as the helicopter takes off, I grab ahold of the side of the copter. I pull my wings in fast so they don't tear off from the downdraft of the helicopter.

As I attempt to climb aboard, I see Ari aiming a rifle at me.

"Let me tell you a secret, old pal, old chap. You've got it all wrong. _We're the good guys!"_

"Good guys don't kidnap little girls you sick bastard." Ari's hand tightened on the trigger. Max's instinct is yelling at me at jump, because she knows Ari would shoot. It pains me to say, but I think he would too and I'd rather not die today.

"Angel! I promise I will come save you! And I promise you this, Ari. You have made an enemy of the _wrong girl_. And you will regret making me angry." He laughs at me.

"I'd like to see you try." He teases me.

"Be careful what you wish for." I say vengefully as I let go off the helicopter and fall backwards to the ground. I spin around and unfurl my wings. I land hard on the ground, very pissed and very angry. The rest of the flock runs up to me, but they can tell from my expression what happened.

"What are we going to do?" Nudge says on the verge of tears.

"I told you what we're going to do. We're going after Angel, and we're going to find her and free her. And then we're going to burn the School to the ground, and I won't let any Erasers, labcoats, Editors, or even the author of this story stop us."

"What?" Iggy asks, confused about the last comment.

"Nothing. The point is we're going after Angel."

"But we don't even know where Angel is." Gasman says.

"Where else would they take her? She's at the School." The flock gasps in shock and terror. "Why is that a surprise?" I ask, very confused.

"But we don't even know where the School is!" Gasman cries (ignoring my question).

"Oh…That's a good point."

"There's a map." Fang says. "It's in California."

"Oh. Okay. Well there you go. Easy. Now we just fly to California. Piece of cake."

"When do we leave?" The Gasman asks eagerly.

"About that…" This is going to be awkward. "You're not coming."

"Why?!"

"Because you're only eight." He doesn't take that well. Let me change my approach. "And because I have a special mission for you. I want you to stay here and defend the camp."

"What if the Erasers come back?"

"Then you fight them off. And that's why Iggy's staying too!"

"WHAT?" He says angrily. "You can't make me stay!"

"Yes I can, and you will. I told you I need you two here so-"

"Stop with the bullshit, it's because I'm blind!"

"Um…Only a little bit. It's also because I need you to look out for Gazzy." Although in reality something will happen that'll probably make them rejoin us eventually anyway, but I'm going to hold my ground anyway.

"Jeb would never have made us stay. Never Ever." He says defiantly. I raise an eyebrow.

"Maybe not. But was he the one would took care of you and raised you from childhood? Maybe a little, but no! I did most of it. And he's also dead so we'll never know." That was a little harsh, but necessary. "Now everyone get your gear together."

8


	16. Chapter 16

The sun blinds me, as we fly straight towards it. We've been flying for a couple hours at least. We've left the Santa de Cristo mountain range behind, however California is still a long ways away. Nudge has been occupying my time by talking to me, not about one particular thing, but lots of topics. Then she interrupts one of our conversations with, "Max, I was thinking about it and if we get separated somehow, what should we do?"

"We meet up at Lake Mead…You know this seems like an important plot point, I better remember this."

"What?"

"I mean, this might be important if we get lost, so remember this." We continue to fly, crossing little towns and cities. I lazily gaze down every once in a while and watch the people living their normal lives. I picture myself in their position and wonder if that could have been me in a different lifetime. Strangely enough, it seems unfamiliar to even imagine myself as something so normal. Carrying groceries, reading in the park, walking a dog, getting bullied- wait what?

I notice a group of what looks like older boys, surrounding a smaller kid. I know that they're not real, just made up characters in a book. I know that if I help then I'll probably end up deviating too far from the storyline and the Editors will come and find me, or the Erasers will get to me first. All these facts are telling me to just look away and keep on flying, but my conscience just won't let me.

I look at Fang, about to tell him my plan when he shakes his head (as if he already knew what I was going to do). I'm not going to let him stop me that easily though.

"Meet me at Lake Mead."

"Max, no."

"Fine. How about this? There are three of those guys down there, and three of us. We go down, take them out, and then fly away." He doesn't answer. "If you don't agree to help me I'll just go do it on my own."

"What if they see our wings?" He asks. I roll my eyes.

"Who cares? If they try to tell anyone, no one will believe them."

"What if they have cameras?"

"People will claim it's a hoax. Sure, maybe some people will believe them, but everyone else will just assume they're crazy." Fang doesn't say anything to this, just stares angrily ahead.

"Come on." I urge him. "What if that were Angel? What if that were us and no one came to help us?" He grumbles to himself.

"Fine." He relents.

"YES! Thank you!" With that I dive bomb down to the city with Fang and Nudge following close behind. At the last second I come up right above one of the bully jerks and grab him at the armpits and pull him into the air with me. From the screams coming behind me, I assume Fang and Nudge did the same with their bullies. Then I flew over some woods nearby and deposited him in a tree. After I fly back up into the air, Fang and Nudge join me.

"That was fun!" She says in excitement.

"Yeah. Imagine if you hadn't agreed to help me, and I had to go up against those jerks by myself. Can you imagine?" Fang doesn't laugh, but I can tell he's trying hard not to. Then out of nowhere, there's a searing pain in my shoulder and before I can even scream out in agony or shock, I'm falling. What happened? I land hard on the ground, and I hear something crack.

"Ahh. Ffaannnggg. Nuuddge." I try to call out to them, but I had the wind knocked out of me and I can barely breathe, let alone yell out to them. I see their shapes growing smaller. I didn't yell out cause I was so shocked, so they must not have heard me. They're probably wondering where I am. Great. I'll just have to meet them at Lake Mead. I knew that would be important.

I try to rise, but my shoulder is on fire. I fight through the pain. My hand brushes against something metallic and I pull a bloody bullet out of my shoulder. One of those kids must have had a gun. This sucks. I don't know how I can fly to Lake Mead in this condition. I can't go to a hospital. I don't know what to do, so I just start walking. I finally make it out of the woods. I wander along the streets, hoping no one will notice the blood all over my clothes and call 911.

Finally I can go no further, and exhaustion overwhelms me. I trip and fall into some hedges next to a house. Maybe if I just lie here a few minutes I'll feel better…

I awake to rain pouring on my face while a dog tries to bury me in the mud.

"What have you got there Magnolia?" A little girl's voice asks. I brush the dog off me and sit up. The girl screams in horror when she sees me. I'm covered in mud and blood and I'd probably scream if I saw me too. Then I notice it's the same girl from before.

"Wait. Don't be afraid. It's me. From before. With the bullies? I saved you." A flash of recognition dawns across her face.

"So I wasn't imagining it then. Do you really have…you know, wings?"

"Yes."

"Where are your friends?"

"Well. There was some gunfire and we got separated."

"Was someone hit?!" I take my hand off my shoulder, just as a new gush of blood comes out.

"It's just a flesh wound."

"Omg! We need to get you help!"

"NO! You can't call the hospital or they'll put me in a zoo." She thinks about this for a moment and then her face lights up.

"My mom's a veterinarian. She can help you." I start laughing.

"That's very coincidentally appropriate. Help me inside." Ella lets me lean on her as we go inside.

"Mom. Mom! This girl needs help!" Ella shouts. A dark haired woman with worried eyes comes out from a door. "What is it Ella? What's wrong?"

"Mom, this is-" Ellas stops, her hand in midair. I realize I never gave her my name.

"Max." I say instinctively. I'm shocked how quickly I've adapted to Max's name.

"My friend Max. She's the girl I told you about. The one with the _wings._"

"You mean you didn't make that up?" Her mom asks in shock. I unfurl my wings to prove it.

"Oh my."

"Yeah. And she got shot!"

"Oh no! Let me get my stuff. Take off your shoes and go with Ella to the bathroom. We go to the bathroom and I sit on the edge of the bathtub. Her mom comes in a few minutes later with a first aid kit. She starts treating my wound. "I think the shot nicked a bit of bone. First we have to clean the wounds and stop the bleeding. When's the last time you had a tetanus shot?"

"About that…"

"It's alright. I can take care of that too. And you can call me Dr. Martinez."

As I wake up, there's a moment of confusion because I don't know where I am. I'm lying in a perfectly normal bed, in a perfectly normal bed. Could I finally be home? That's strange. I don't even remember coming home. Maybe it was all a dream. But I don't remember my name. Or my memories. Or anything. It feels wrong. Then the door slowly opens, and Ella peeks her head out.

"Oh right…" I murmur to myself. I'm in Maximum Ride, how could I forget?

"I think she's awake." Ella says. Ella mom's appears behind her.

"Morning Max. You hungry? Do you like pancakes?" Her mom asks.

"And little breakfast sausages?" Ella adds. "And fruit and stuff?" My stomach grumbles.

"Does that answer your question?" I joke. Ella's mom laughs. With that she heads downstairs and leaves me my clothes, freshly cleaned.

The breakfast was so good. Like iHop good. And we all sat around a table and ate it together, as if we were a real family. Then Ella had to go to school. I'd forgotten about school. It made me wonder what my school was like. Who my friends were, my teachers, how smart I was, was I popular or sporty or nerdy?

"So, Max?" Ella's mom says, disrupting my thoughts. "Do you want to talk about…anything?"

"Actually yeah, there is a question I've been meaning to ask you…It's hard to explain but I'm not sure if I've missed my period or not because, I haven't really been keeping track of it because, well umm just cause, and I know it's not really your department being a veterinarian and all, but do you think I should be concerned?" She blinks a few times and I'm sure she's about to give me the dumbfounded look, but then she laughs.

"That's not what I meant, but I don't think you should be worried."

"That's a relief."

"But that's not what I meant." I stare at her, not comprehending. "I mean about your wings."

"Oh. I don't really know what to say about it."

"Okay. How about, do you have a last name?"

"It's Ride. Like Sally Ride, the astronaut. Maximum Ride."

"That's a good name. Are there others like you?" She asks.

"With the last name Ride? I'm sure there are, but I don't think I'm related to them."

"Haha. You really know how to make me laugh. You're a funny girl Max."

"Thanks. You should hear me when I'm actually trying." There's a bit of an awkward silence. I can tell Dr. Martinez wants to say something.

"Max, I don't know how you would feel about this, but I couldn't tell the extent of your injury, and I could give you a better idea if we had an X-ray." I shrug my shoulders.

"Why not?"

Dr. Martinez shares a vet practice with another doctor. Today is her day off, but she reassures me no one would think it weird for us to show up at the office. I walk inside and all the blood rushes out of my face and a wash of terror sweeps over me.

"Max?" Dr. Martinez asks, concerned. I feel worse than that time in Phantom of the Opera. Hmm. I feel like I'm forgetting something. Then I catch sight of a man in a white coat and the terror comes back. Flashes of Max's memory show me quick glimpses of the School and the horrible experiments they performed there. I flinch as I feel the pain and horror Max felt. I know it's a totally irrational fear to be afraid of doctors and hospitals (especially because I know how harmless most of them are). I try to tell myself this, but it doesn't help.

Dr. Martinez senses something is wrong and pulls me into the nearest examination room.

"Max, what's wrong? What's the matter?"

"It's okay, I'll be fine." I lie. "Let's just do this quick." It does go very quick. She carefully positions me on a table, a machine hovers over me, and there's a little _buzz_ and it was done.

"Look," She says, tracing the shoulder blade on the X-ray picture with her finger. "This bone is fine. It's all muscle damage you can see the torn tissue here and here. And your wing bones all seem fine. Which is good. Unfortunately-"

"Unfortunately? I don't like 'unfortunately'. What's 'unfortunately'?"

"Unfortunately, muscle damage usually takes longer to heal than bones do. Though you rate of regeneration seems weirdly fast, I must say."

"That's convenient." Dr. Martinez is frowning at the X-ray and it's worrying me. "Is something wrong?" I ask.

"No. I'm just trying to figure out what this is." She says, pointing to a bright white square, maybe half an inch wide that sat smack-dab in the middle of my forearm. "It looks like a microchip."

"What?"

"A microchip. We put something similar into animals. To identify them in case they're lost. Yours looks like a, like ones we use on really expensive pets, show dogs and such. They have a tracer in them in case they're stolen. They can be tracked, wherever they are."

"At least it's nice to know they view me as an _expensive _show dog."

"I'm not saying that's what it is, it's just what it looks like."

"So it's a microchip. Can you take it out?"

"Not without the possibility of you losing the use of your hand." I ponder on that for a moment. I remember Nemo saying something about how you can actually get hurt in fanfiction or something. I'm about to ask Dr. Martinez a question when I hear smooth, charming voices that reminded me too much of Ari. I freeze.

"I'm sure this is nothing, Max." Dr. Martinez says calmly. "But why don't you step in here for a minute?"

I step inside the closet she motions to and flatten myself against the wall behind some old boxes, lab coats and such. It's very dusty. Then my hand brushes against one of them, and a flower falls out of its pocket. I conceal a curse. Who keeps flowers in their lab coat? This must be the author's doing or the plot (or just bad luck), just to make things interesting. I hold my finger under my nose to keep from sneezing, just as the Erasers walk in.

"What's going on here?" Dr. Martinez says sharply, sounding outraged. "This is a doctor's office!"

"Sorry, ma'am." One voice says as if it were made of honey. I take a deep breath in.

"_Doctor!"_ She snaps. Daaammn.

"Sorry, Doctor." Another voice says. "Forgive us for interrupting. There's nothing to be concerned about. We're with the local law enforcement."

"We're looking for anything unusual." _Like a kid with wings? _"Just a precaution. I'm afraid I can't tell you more than that."

"Unusual like what? A double rainbow? Gasoline for less than a buck fifty? Sugar-free soda that actually tastes good?" I accidentally start to laugh, and then catch myself, but not before I sneeze. It's quiet and barely audible, but I'm sure the Erasers heard it. Great. Just what I needed.

"Did you hear that?" One of them asks.

"Hear what? The sound of my time wasting away?" Dr. Martinez sasses back.

"We're sorry ma'am. What was your question? Oh yes. We're just looking for any unusual _people, _for instance. Strangers in the neighborhood, children or teenagers that you don't know or who even look suspicious. Or unusual animals even." Nice subtly.

"I'm a veterinary surgeon. To tell the truth, I usually don't look at my patients' owners much. And I haven't seen any strangers around. As for unusual _animals_, last week I treated a cow that had a bicornuate uterus. She had a healthy calf in each side. Does that help?" Wow. I wish I hadn't of understood what that last part meant. I make a mental note never to make Ella's mom mad.

"If you gentlemen will excuse me, I have a business to run."

"If you see or hear of anything unusual, here's a number for you to call. Thanks for your time. Sorry to disturb you." Heavy footsteps fade away and I hear a door slam. I peek my head out and check, it's all safe. I come out.

"Those guys were bad news?"

"Yep. I better get going."

"Tomorrow morning is soon enough. One more night of rest. Promise me."

"I don't know…"

"I can make pancakes again."

"You had me at pancakes." So I stay. We make cookies. They are delicious. It's been a while since I've had fresh cookies and it was _very _nice. I can't remember when the last time I did have one to be honest. I brush off these feelings, but they keep coming back. Ella's mom just makes me wonder about my past life. Finally the next morning comes. I eat my pancakes, pull my new sweatshirt on, and get ready to take off. Ella's mom hands me a backpack.

If you ever need anything, anything at all, please call us. I put my phone number inside the pack." I just nod. Before I can do anything, they both hug me tight and squeeze me.

"_What would you do-o for a Klondike bar?" _I joke, but I'm not really feeling it.

"Oh Max, you have a lovely voice. Do you sing?"

"You could say that…" I disengage myself and open the door. I turn back to look at them.

"Thank you. So much. I-It's been great." I can't believe it when my voice stutters like that. I should feel sad that I'm leaving because I've felt so safe and loved here, but I don't. I push my feelings back down and focus on the task at hand, saving Angel. I turn back and give them one last smile goodbye. Then I run a few step, take a jump in the air, and fly away. The wind rushes into my face and it feels so liberating. I take a glance back, wondering if I should stay. I tense in shock as I see a flash of white. _An Eraser or an Editor?_ My mind is made up, and for Ella and her mom's own safety I turn and fly high into the sky.

7


	17. Chapter 17

A few hours later, Lake Mead comes into view. I land near the northern point. I see no one. My breath starts to pick up. This is just fantastic. They must have left without me. I've messed up big, again. I mentally yell at myself in frustration and self-loathing. Maybe I should leave and go look for them?

Then the sun is blocked by a shadow. _Erasers? Editors? _I turn and roundhouse kick whoever had the bad luck to try to sneak up on me. He falls back and moans in pain. I realize who it is in a moment of relief and guilt.

"Fang! Oh wait, Fang! Sorry. I didn't realize it was you. I thought someone was sneaking up on me." He sits up and starts rubbing his back where he fell.

"I'd feel bad for any Eraser that tried to sneak up on you." Just then rest of the flock joins us. Nudge has a huge smile on her face.

"Max! Max! I can't believe it! _Can _I believe it?" She hugs me tight. I must say, it's nice to feel so loved. If only I could breathe. As she lets go the rest of the flock greets me. Iggy and the Gasman are smiling too and-. Wait…

"Iggy? Gasman?" I put my hands on my hips and wait for an explanation.

"There were Erasers all over the mountain. They were hunting for us. We'd be dog meat by now." The Gasman quickly spits out.

"When did they start hunting for you?" I ask.

"Was it after the oil-slick Hummer crash?" The Gasman asks Iggy tentatively.

"Oil-slick?" I ask.

"Maybe more after the bomb?" The Gasman says.

"I think it was the bomb." Iggy agrees. "That definitely seemed to tick them off."

"Bomb? _Bomb? _You guys set off a _bomb?_ And you didn't invite me? I-I mean, didn't that tell the Erasers exactly where you were? You should have stayed hidden."

"They already knew where we were. They sent some spies to look for us." Something bothers me about what the Gasman just said.

"Spies?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of spies?"

"I don't know. They were really weird. One of them had this mask and a cape and the other looked like he was one of those fancy dukes or whatever, from like, a long time ago, and they both kept singing for some reason and I couldn't understand what they were saying. They were the strangest Erasers I've ever seen."

"Oh shi-"

"Oh, and I found them in your closet oddly enough."

"I knew I was forgetting something."

"What?"

"Oh, nothing." I can't believe I left them locked in a closet. I mentally face palm. At least they won't bother me anymore. Although I can't help but feel guilty about stranding them in a strange, unknown world.

"So what now Max?" Nudge asks.

"Um…To Angel?" I venture.

"To Angel!" The rest of the flock agrees. We take off and catch each other up on the adventures each of us had while we were separated on our way to the School. After a while, I start to feel a little shaky from lack of sugar, and I know I'll need food soon.

"Who's hungry!?" I ask. Everyone nods. We find a strip mall and very inconspicuously land behind the back. Just as we make it to the front, I come to the conclusion that we are broke. Before I could tell the rest of the flock, a car squeals into the drive-thru ATM. We duck behind some convenient bushes. Then a second, big black pickup truck (Erasers? That's a little bit obvious) screeches up behind it and hits the Cush mobile. The guy from the first car sticks his head out from the window and starts cursing the pickup truck out. (Now, I have a relatively colorful vocabulary from time to time, if you get what I'm saying, but there were some words this guy spouted that _I_ didn't even know). The darkened window of the pickup rolled down and I inhaled silently. I was right. _How does he always find us?_ Maybe the chip?

"What'd you say, dipstick?" Ari asks with a creepy smile. The jerk in the first car stomps on the gas pedal and hits the pedal to the metal (would too if I saw Ari's face). Then the pickup also drives away.

"He gets around." Fang says quietly.

"Was Ari's hair green?" I ask, confused.

"Yep." Nudge says, unusually brief. The five of us look at each other, and then the ATM. I take the lead (as usual) and walk over to it. _Do you want another transaction? _Flashes across the screen. I press _Yes. _Then the ATM asks for the access code.

"Oh no. Did anyone see what the access code was?" I ask desperate.

"I _heard_ it." Iggy says slowly.

"Well, it's as good a bet as we got. Go for it Iggy." He hesitantly puts his hand over the keypad. He punches in five numbers and we all hold our breath. _Access denied. Please check your PIN and try again. _I conceal a curse.

"Try again Iggy. You've got the best ears on the planet." He does. He punches in five different numbers. _Come on, this has to work, the author has to let this work. _I let a squeal of excitement as twenties start shooting out of the machine. "Grab it and let's make a run for it!"

We make for the parking lot. I zoom past a red van, pause, and then backtrack.

"Max, what are you doing?" Nudge asks.

"Anyone know how to steal a car?" I ask, mischievously.

"Why do we need to steal a car?" Fang says, not answering my question.

"The element of surprise. They'll be looking for us in the sky, but they'll never expect this! Unless I really do have a tracking chip in my arm."

"Wait, what!?"

"So is that a collective yes?"

"Did you say tracking chip?"

"Not important."

"Yes. It is."

"Fine. I'll tell you if you let me steal this car. And drive."

"Fine. But when we're done with it, we're returning it." Fang gives in. He starts toward the engine.

"What are you doing?"

"Starting the car." I open the door (which was conveniently unlocked) and flipped down the visor, and out dropped the keys. I dangle them in front of Fang. He stares hard and reaches for them. I pull them back.

"Oh no you don't. _I'm _driving."

"Have you ever driven before?"

"Well. Not exactly, but neither have you." I say. He grumbles in annoyance. "Okay. Pile in gang!" I climb into the driver's seat. This shouldn't be too hard. Then my eyes fall over a CD lying on the cup tray.

"AHHH…You guys."

"What? What is it?!" I slowly hold up the CD.

"ABBA!" I squeal in excitement.

"Bless you?" Iggy says.

"Have you never heard of ABBA? You poor deprived souls." I push the CD in and skip to my favorite song. Then I start the engine and take off. Several seconds later…

"_YOU ARE THE DANCING QUEEN! YOUNG AND SWEET ONLY SEVENTEEN!"_ I sing at my loudest belt. The singing talent from Phantom is really paying off.

"Make it stop!" Iggy begs. Nudge is totally digging it though.

"_YOU CAN DAANCE, YOU CAN JIIIVE, HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!" _

"My ears are bleeding!" Iggy screams. Several seconds after that…

"_You are the DANCING QUEEN!" _Iggy and Nudge sing to each other. Nobody can resist the beauty of ABBA. Except for maybe Fang. He's been too silent this whole time.

"_You're a teaser, you turn 'em on…Leave 'em burning and then your gooonne." _I sing in his face.

"WATCH THE CAR!" He yells. I swerve, avoiding it. "Focus more on driving, not singing."

"What's the fun in driving if I can't sing along with my music?"

"Just stay focused."

"Oh, please. I think your hiding something."

"No…" I raise an eyebrow at him (only taking my eyes off the road for a moment).

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Reeeaaaalllyy?"

"_Yes_."

"REEE-"

"FINE! Yes. I like ABBA. I'm sorry that I appreciate good music."

"I KNEW it! _YOU ARE THE DANCING QUEEN!"_

"_YOUNG AND SWEET ONLY SEVENTEEN!"_ The flock sings together. After we come to the end of the song, I notice the looming McDonald's sign up ahead.

"FOOD BREAK!"

"YEAHH!" We get out and head inside. After each of us orders, and sits down, we start ravaging our food. After four burgers, the hairs on the back of my neck start to tingle. I have a spidey sense now apparently. I casually gaze around. None of us had noticed the surrounding tables had become filled with male models that looked slightly wolfish. I make eye contact with Fang. And slowly, one by one, silently alerting the rest of the flock.

"Nudge. Gazzy. Don't look up. In three seconds, jump over Fang and out that exit door." I hiss under my breath. She takes a sip of her shake and then leaps out of her seat, Gazzy following, and races to the exit. They both make it. I turn and also run for it. An Eraser jumps out at me, but I jump up and use him to propel me forward. I dart out the door, and turn to say triumphantly,

"You'll never take me alive!" I've always want to say that. Then I turn, but another pole has materialize out of nowhere, and I run headfirst into it.

"N-not…Agaiiinnnn…." I mumble as the world spins away from me. Where do these damn poles come from? I swear I can hear Eraser laughter as I pass out.


	18. Chapter 18

_Where am I? _My head hurts, and my back is hunched over. I try to sit up, but hit my head on the top of what seems to be a cage. This makes my head hurt worse. There's also a sharp pain in my side, like something is digging into it. I pull out the wand. I hadn't realize I still had this thing. I look around trying to figure out where I am. There are other cages, and it's very dark. I suck in a deep breath as I realize where I am. I start to hyperventilate.

"No. No. No. No. No. No. This isn't happening. I can't deal with small spaces like this. I can't deal with this!"

"At least they gave you a _big _crate." A small voice says next to me. "I'm in a _medium_." I swallow.

"A-Angel?"

"Yes?" My heart drops. I'm very glad she's alive, but I also feel so guilty for seeing her like this.

"Is the rest of the flock-?" I ask, to scare to hear the answer.

"Iggy and Gazzy got away, but Fang and Nudge didn't." Angel tells me remorsefully.

"I-I'm sorry. I failed you." She reaches out her hand to me, through the bars. I reach mine out too, but we are still a few inches from touching.

"You didn't fail me. At least you tried to help." I don't think running into a pole was very helpful.

"I guess. But the real Max would have saved you."

"I-" Her voice is cut off by the door opening, raining light inside.

"Max, there's something I need to tell you."

"Wait a second. I think someone's coming."

"No, Max-" The person comes into view, and bends down in front of my cage.

"Maximum Ride," says Jeb Batchelder. "Oh, I've missed you so much." I stare at him for a second.

"Wait. Aren't you dead?" I ask, a little confused. He blinks as if this wasn't the reaction he was hoping for.

"Well. No. I know you're surprised."

"Yep. Not everyday someone comes back from the dead. Unless I somehow ended up in The Walking Dead."

"Come on. I need to talk to you." He unlatches the crate and waits for me to get out.

"I am _not _coming out of this thing." I say, standing my ground (more like _sitting_ my ground though, cause that cage is really tiny).

"Why not?"

"I've seen what you've made us do. I am not getting experimented on anytime soon."

"I'm not going to dissect you, don't worry."

"Okay, yeah, like I'm gonna trust the man who disappeared for years without a word and suddenly shows up in my worst nightmare? Don't kid yourself."

"Max, we need to do this. You can either come out easily, or by force. I would really hate to do that to you." I grumble a little, but finally get out. Jeb leads me to a small, lablike room, furnished with couches, a table and chairs, a sink, and a microwave.

"Sit down, Max, please." I check the chair for any hidden restraints, or anything. Once I see its safe I sit down. He comes over with a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. Now I know Max wouldn't drink it in order to be rebellious, but I'm not that strong. I take a long sip and the warm thick chocolate slides down my throat.

"Aaaahhh." That hits the spot. Jeb is going on about something or other, but I'm really absorbed in my hot chocolate.

"Max, I have to tell you- I'm so proud of you." Blah, blah, blah…Are these marshmallows homemade? Because they are delicious.

"You must have so many questions."

"Yeah. Can I have some more marshmallows?" He laughs and gives me some more. He continues talking about how everything is a test, blah, blah, blah, hot chocolate. You were born for a purpose, who cares, who cares, who cares. You are supposed to save the world, boring, boring, borin- Wait, what?! I spit the hot chocolate out all over the table and start coughing.

"I'm sorry did I hear you correctly?"

"You are supposed to _save the world_."

"…HAHHAHAHAHAHAHA! Please. Next you're going to tell me I'm special, that I was created for a purpose. Oh oh, let me guess. I'm the chosen one too. Sheesh. How many times has this been done before?"

"I wish you would take this a little bit more seriously." He sounds disappointed.

"I'm sorry I can't take crazy scientists telling me I'm supposed to save the world seriously."

"It's okay. I can barely imagine what you must be feeling or thinking. It's okay. I just wanted to tell you myself. Later, others will come to talk to you. After you've had a chance to think about this, to realize what it could mean for you and the others. But for now, don't say anything to the rest of the flock. It's our secret, Maximum. Soon the whole world will know. But not just yet." He takes me laughing, back to my cage. I wipe a tear from my eye and sit back inside.

"You okay?" Angel asks anxiously.

"Yeah. Guess what? I'm supposed to save the world. Lolz. Haha. Funny." Nudge and Angel nod, looking concerned and Fang kept staring at me.

"Okay. I guess it isn't as funny as I thought it was…" We all sit in silence. It feels as if hours go by. I start feeling tense again. Just as I feel as if I'm about to explode, light falls into the room as someone opens the door. My heart jumps into my throat. No. It can't be-.

"Christine! We are so glad we found you. It is such a strange world we have been transported into." The Phantom and Raoul say. "Why are you in a cage?"

"Long story. How did you get here?!"

"I'm very good at stalking." The Phantom says. I stare at him, very concerned.

"I'm going to ignore that comment for now. Can you get us out?" Raoul answers me by holding up some keys.

"I swiped them off some guards." The Phantom says.

"Max? Who are they? Why are they calling you Christine?" Nudge asks, very confused.

"Well…They are, how do I put it? Old friends. Now open the cage, _old friends_."

"Anything for you Christine." They say, as they fight over who gets the privilege of opening my cage. Finally they let me out and then the rest of the flock.

"Alright. Now that we are out of the cages, let's get out of here."

"Wait, Max, who are these people?" Angel asks.

"How do we know we can trust them?" Fang says.

"Christine, why are we standing here? If these peasants don't want to come with us, let's just go." Raoul says.

"Hey we are NOT peasants." Nudge says, offended.

"Clearly you have not seen your clothes lately." Raoul says. Nudge gasps and her face turns red. Note to self, do not dis Nudge's clothing.

"Have you looked in a mirror lately? Because I don't think you should be dissing other people clothes. You look like you stepped out of a Jane Austen book."

"I understood that reference." The Phantom says, proud of himself. "Christine, can we leave now?"

"Max, why do they keep calling you Christine?"

"Christine, why do they keep calling you Max? And is this the Nemo you were talking about?" The Phantom asks, pointing to Fang.

"Hey, I don't know who this 'Nemo' is, but if you don't get your finger out of my face, we're going to have a problem."

"You dare threaten me?" The Phantom says. It looks like they're about to get into a nasty brawl.

"ENOUUUGHHH already!" I yell, very frustrated. If Nemo were here I'm sure he would know some nifty trick to get me out of this situation, but he's not, so it looks like it's up to me.

"Shut up. Everyone just shut up." Encouraging, I know. "Look, I can't really explain what's going on right now, so you'll just have to trust me. That's what I'm asking for. Trust. I need to trust you to listen to me and follow my directions, and you need to trust me to get us all out of here. Cause that's what we all want, to get out of here. Unless we all shut up, work together, and trust each other none of us will be getting out of here. Not alive anyway. Alright?" I gaze at them, and one by one they all start to nod their heads.

"Perfect. So now we need a plan. Phantom? Raoul? Did you guys see any exits on your way in here?" They shake their heads.

"Not particularly." Raoul says.

"Unless…unless we use the sewers." The Phantom says.

"Ewwww." Nudge says, looking disgusted.

"Why am I not surprised? Alright. Sewers it is. Phantom led the way, I'll cover the back."

"But Christine! You could get hurt!" Raoul says, alarmed.

"Yes. But I can look out for myself and if I do get hurt, it will be my fault and I want you guys to keep going. Got it?"

"If that's what you want."

"Great. Let's move out." So the Phantom leads the way, and we crawl down into the sewers. It's very narrow, so we have to go single file. It's also very dark. The Max's bird sense help a lot, but even so I feel uneasy. We're all very silent. Water drips down from the ceiling every now and then and makes a plopping sound on the moist ground. My breathing is very loud. Something is wrong here. I stop walking. Everyone else continues onward, but I can't fight the urge to take a peek back. I turn around slowly. There's nothing.

Then I see movement in the darkness. A shape starts to emerge. It towers over me and comes into view.

"Little Max piglet trying to run away?" Ari's voice laughs in the darkness. Suddenly I remember the wand.

"Laugh at this wolf-face!" I point it at him. Nothing happens. He roars with laughter.

"Oh, shit. I forgot. Wooorrrk!" I yell at the wand. A little wisp of snow comes out, and then slivers to the ground pitifully. This makes Ari laugh even more.

"Stupid magic must've run out. I don't understand this useless wand!" I'm about to throw it to the ground in frustration, when I get a better idea.

"You think this is funny? Then you'll find _this_ hysterical." I roll forward as Ari lunges to grab me, and I dodge under his arms. Then I take the wand and thrust it as hard as I can up his nose. Déjà vu. It's my turn to roar with laughter, as he scrambles to pull it out of his nostril.

"HAHHA. You should see your face! I wish I had a video camera." I wipe a tear from my eye.

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got to run. Good luck with that!" I run to rejoin everyone else, still laughing to myself. That was totally worth it. As I rejoin the others, we reach the end of the tunnel. We climb into the light. I pause for a moment as my eyes adjust to the bright sunlight. We appear to be just outside the School boundaries.

"What now Max?" Angel asks. I gaze around. The sky is wide and clear.

"Looks like we can fly from here." That's when the dark shadows of the Erasers loom over us.

"Haha." One of them laughs in that despicable, makes-me-want-to-punch-them-in-the-face kind of way they have. "You think we're going to let you just walk out of here?" One of them sneers.

"Who said anything about _walking?_" I open my wings, and try to look intimidating.

"Oh. Looks like the freaks are going to try to fight back. I'm so _scared."_ Another pipes in. I raise an eyebrow and look threateningly at him.

"Don't make me stick a wand up your nose too." Phantom, Raoul, and the flock look confused, but I can tell the Eraser flinches a little.

"Enough. You and you're accomplices aren't going anywhere."

"My accomplices? You mean the Phantom and Raoul?" I start to laugh, then I realize that they've all readied themselves for a fight. Not good. Just as I start to panic, a large shadow appears in the sky.

"What's that in the sky?" Raoul asks.

"It's a bird!" An Eraser says.

"No, it's a plane." Another says squinting into the sky.

"No, it's _Superman!_" I joke. No one laughs. "You know, like Superman? Clark Kent? No?"

"It's not Superman, its Iggy and Gazzy!" Angel says.

"Oh. I knew that…" Sure enough, Iggy and the Gasman are flying high overhead. There's something with them though. Wait, no, a something_s_. Its eagles! They start dive-bombing at the Erasers. This seems like a good time to make a run for it.

"Let's go!" I'm about to take off, as something claws my foot. I'm yanked to the ground. I glance back as I see Ari's claws dragging me into the sewer. My nails dig into the ground as I hear his laughter echoing through the sewer. I kick and wiggle but it does nothing. The rest of the flock seems to have taken off already.

"A little help?!" I yell in desperation. I'm out of ideas. I thought that wand would have delayed him a little longer. Feet appear in front of my face. A wolf hand reaches down and grabs my throat and hoists me up. "You called?"

"Ca-an't. B-b-breeeaa-the." I clutch the Eraser's hands. Ari climbs up from the sewer. Not good. I guess I'll just have to fight my way out of this. My feet dangle in the air. I swing them up and kick the Eraser holding my throat in the face. He loosens his grip. I use his face as a stepstool to backwards somersault into Ari, kicking him back into the sewer.

"Thanks for the help!" I take to the sky before any more trouble happens. My throat is throbbing. That was a close one. I rejoin the gang in the sky.

"Christine!" The Phantom and Raoul are being carried by Fang and Nudge respectively (although they don't look too happy).

"Max! We were so worried!" Gazzy says.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Thanks for the backup, Gazzy, Iggy. Good job."

"Thanks Max." Gazzy looks ecstatic that I complemented him.

"So…What now?" Nudge asks. Everyone looks toward me. Gosh, the responsibility of being a leader.

"Well. Umm. Jeb knows where our house is, can't go there." I think for a moment. Suddenly I get a brilliant idea. "Let's go to New York."

"What?" Everyone says in shocked unison.

"Let's go to New York City. The Big Apple. NYC. The city that never sleeps. The-"

"We get it." Iggy says.

"But why?"

"Why not? We'll fit in perfectly with all the other crazy people there." Plus I figure that I might be able to drop the Phantom and Raoul off at _The Phantom of the Opera. _I think they'll be happy there. "What're you all staring at? Let's go!"

We fly for several hours. We each take turns trading off carrying the Phantom and Raoul, although the younger kids can't quite carry them. I'm glad to not be in the school anymore. I'm sure everyone else is too. It occurs to me that now that we have Angel back, and we're out of the School, and the plot is resolved, can I jump to the next story? But something doesn't seem right. I have a feeling that something's going to happen. Don't ask how I know, I just have a feeling. A bad feeling. Maybe it's because I haven't seen an Editor in a long while, or because I can't find Nemo. My throat locks up. I'm still really worried about Nemo, and I haven't come up with anymore ideas to contact him. Mayb-

A blinding, stunning pain explodes behind my eyes.

"_Max?" _Nudge screams. _"Christine?" _The Phantom and Raoul scream. I can't think, can't speak, can't do a thing. My wings fold like paper, and I start to drop like a hailstone. Something is incredibly wrong. My hand clutch my head to keep the pain from splitting my skull wide open.

Then Fang's arms, ropy and hard, scoop me up, and I feel myself rising.

"Assppiirin?" I moan.

"Yeah. Just relax." Before I can stop myself I pass out. I didn't even hit a pole this time. Sometime later (not sure how long), I open my eyes a slit.

"Man, you weigh a freaking _ton._" Fang tells me. "What've you been eating, _rocks?"_

"Hey, just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I need to watch my weight. I try to eat a very healthy diet." He laughs.

"Wow. Are you sure you're okay?" He jokes. I'm shocked. Fang. Being funny.

"Stop flirting with her!" The Phantom yells, while being carried by Iggy.

"Um. We weren't flirting…" Fang says. Wow. This just got really awkward.

"You know, we're all really tired, my brain just exploded, how about we land and try to find some aspirin and food?" A while later, we've made camp and are cooking random foods over a fire. I've been feeling a little better. I'm still concerned about whether or not this headache is part of the story, or if it's me, or if I've finally gone crazy, if this is a onetime occurrence, or if I should be concerned. I try not to think about it.

Instead, I think about how well the Phantom and Raoul have adapted into the flock. Raoul and Nudge are talking fashion right now. The Phantom is showing Gazzy and Iggy a few tricks with explosives. Hmm. I'll keep an eye on that. I notice that Angel seems bother by something.

"What's up Angel?" Her large blue eyes look solemnly into mine.

"I've got a secret. From when I was at the School. It's about us. Where we came from?"

"What?" I ask.

"I heard stuff."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff about me, about the flock."

"Okay…" I brace myself for a shocking plot twist.

"I found out another place has information about us-like where we came from, well where the flock, and Max came from."

"What?" Iggy butts in. He must have been listening to our conversation.

"They have files on us. Like the main files. In New York City. At a place called the Institute."

"I _knew_ going to New York was a good idea."

"Does this mean we're going to get the files?" Nudge asks, her eyes large and watery.

"_Hell_ yeah. Big Apple, here we come."


	19. Chapter 19

**I want to thank everyone who has been following my fanfiction and I hope you've been enjoying it. I also want to thank you for the great reviews, keep it up! I'm almost to 1,000 views, so keep reading! I really appreciate everyone who has followed or favorited this story. If you haven't yet, do it! And either way, ENJOY!**

The next morning we were on our way to NYC. Again we were switching off carrying Phantom or Raoul. It was very hard flying with all the extra weight added, but at least we could take breaks by passing them on to someone else. Of course, I completely jinx myself.

Just as it's my turn to take the Phantom from Fang, some unseen force shoves an unseen railroad spike through my skull. I cry out, falling, while pulling the Phantom down with me. I can barely think with the pain and I curl up in a ball, holding my head and the wind rushes passed me and the Phantom. I can't even hear him or myself screaming above the load winds. I force myself to think. Iggy is carrying Raoul. _Agggg_. That makes the pain worse. I have to keep trying. Fang and Nudge are both free. They could each catch one of us. Unless Fang is too tired from carrying Phantom. Or if they don't get to us on time. _AHAHAHHAHA) #&% ) $$^%^(&^!_

Behind my eyes, bursts of red and orange flood my brain, as if fireworks are exploding inside me. Then it is as though someone has jacked a movie screen directly into my retinas: Lightning-fast images shoot through me so fast it makes me feel sick. I can hardly make any of them out: _blurred buildings, fuzzy landscapes, unrecognizable faces, food, headlines from papers, old stuff in black-and-white, psychedelic stuff, swirly patterns…_God, did I somehow get really, _really_ high? Maybe we shouldn't have had those mushrooms we found last night for dinner.

Then a heavy force hurls itself into me. I can't even open my eyes to see what it is. This "thing" clutches me, as we continue to dive bomb towards the ground. The wind lets up a little. Just when I think maybe we might be landing, the branches of trees scratch my back, arms, and face. We must have crash landed into some trees. It has slowed our fall though. We land on the ground, the wind is knocked out of me, and my back is hurting almost as much as my head. The pain is so intense I think I actually blackout for a moment or two.

"Max?" Fang's voice penetrates the fog of unconsciousness. I push my eyelids open. The headache seems to have disappeared.

"Max?" He sounds concerned. Wow. I really must have been badly hurt if Fang showed emotion.

"I-I'm okay…Just um, Phantom." I babble, trying to get my brain to think again. "Did you catch the Phantom?"

"Yeah. Nudge got him." I exhale. I hadn't even realized I was holding in a breath.

"Max…Do you need to see a doctor?" Angel asks, sounding as scared as she looks.

"Probably. But I'm not going to a doctor."

"But-"

"We don't need anyone else knowing who we are. Look, I'll take an Advil, and I'll be fine. Let's just go to New York. Alright?" Fang gives me a long, level look, then shrugs and motions to Gazzy to take off.

"After you," Fang says, jerking his thumb toward the sky. I grit my teeth and leap into the air again. No fireworks go off in my head. I feel fine, just a little scratched up from the fall through the trees. So for about the third time we start off towards New York. We haven't even gotten there and already we're having issues (well, _I'm_ having issues). This is going to take longer than I thought.

I give a whistle as I stare at the lights shimmering below us. We all gaze in amazement at the sparkling island of Manhattan. I honestly was worried for a while that we weren't going to make it, but here we are. Nudge is freaking out with excitement next to me. Fang seems a little hesitant about all the people. Gazzy is trying to describe what the city looks like to Iggy.

Finally, after scanning the city for a few seconds, I pinpoint Central Park. I figure we can probably camp out there for the night. Drop Phantom and Raoul off in the morning, find the Institute, and maybe by then I'll be far enough through the plot to jump to the next story. I can't help but wonder if maybe I could try jumping now. I did it in Gossip Girl. Not sure how or why it worked, but it did. I bet I could do it again.

But I also don't think I can abandon the flock. Even if they are fictional characters. They feel so real to me. But then again I also have a suspicion I may be slightly insane. I just don't know anymore. God, I wish I could just talk to Nemo, ask him some questions, _anything_. I know I must sound really whiny, and repetitive...I just wish I cou-

Hold the phone. What if there was a way to contact Nemo? Well, not contact, but leave clues? Signs? I don't know. Maybe, just maybe, if he jumps through here and sees something of mine he'll be able to follow my tracks. But what? I don't have anything of use. All the trophies I collected from the different stories vanished. So why do I still feel a weight in my pockets? I reach my hand in and it curls around something smooth and cool. I hadn't even realized I still had this.

It's the glowing rock that Jace gave me in Mortal Instruments. Oh sorry, _witchlight_ (it's a rock). For a brief moment I wonder what happened to Jace and what the Editors did to him. I repress the sick pit that's growing in my stomach and focus on the rock, I mean witchlight. If Nemo sees it, he'll know it doesn't belong here. Or the Editors might find it and just have an easier time finding me. I contemplate this for a moment. Screw it. I place the rock down next to me in the tree we're sleeping in. This isn't going to work, but at least it'll make me feel better that I tried. With that I go to sleep.

The next morning I wake up very cranky because sleeping in a tree did not help my beauty sleep. Nevertheless I try to look on the bright side that if all goes well after today I won't have to deal with Phantom or Raoul. Knowing my luck nothing is ever that easy.

I shove everyone out of the tree so we can go get breakfast. "Come on everyone! Breakfast time!" By breakfast I mean the roasted nuts sold by vendors on the streets. I try my hardest to savor their sweet honey fried goodness. It's hard because I'm savagely hungry so I stuff them all in my mouth. All six packs of them. Anyway, not the point.

While everyone is busying eating their "breakfast" I suddenly feel something is wrong. So far my senses have proven to be accurate. I sweep the park looking for any suspicious characters. My eyes fall upon a sleeping hobo. My eyes narrow. I can tell there's something off about his curly gray badly kept beard.

"Hold my honey-roasted nuts." I say to Fang, while pressing them into his chest. Then I roll up my sleeves and approach the sleeping hobo.

"Nice getup. I must say I almost didn't recognize you."

"Whaaa?"

"Please. You can't trick me that easily. And pretending as if you don't know what I'm talking about isn't going to trick me either."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Shut it!" I grab his jacket. "Where are your Eraser buddies? Are they following us? Where are _they_?!"

"Please!"

"I'm not going to let you keep terrorizing us like this! I want you to stop following me and the flock and just let us live in peace!"

"Uhh. Max?" I hear Fang say behind me. "Not now Fang. I'm in the middle of something."

"But Max-"

"I'm going to give you till the count of three to run away and tell all your friends to leave us alone. One. Two." I let go of the Eraser in disguise and watch him scamper away, pretending to be frightened.

"I bet those Erasers won't bother us now. Not after I scared their friend like that." I turn around and bump into some guy's chest. He grabs my shoulders and pulls me up.

"Max. I don't think that was an Eraser." Angel says from somewhere in the background.

"Oh…" I stare up into the snout of the Eraser holding me up. I guess my senses aren't as trust worthy as I thought.

"Well. This is awkward. But to be fair, I think by expecting the unexpected (aka dressing up as a hobo) I was really one step ahead of you."

"Let's see who one step ahead of whom is after I rip your throat out." He purrs.

"Nice grammar." I comment. "But I don't think ripping my throat out is necessary." I gulp. He looks serious about that throat ripping. Before either of us can react, Fang throws one of my packets of nuts at the Eraser's head.

"Hey! Those were _my_ nuts!" I scream angrily.

"I'm trying to save your life!" Fang yells back. The Eraser turns and is distracted by the nuts and the yelling. I take the opportunity to kick his shin and as he let's go I make a run for it.

"Run!" I yell at the rest of the flock. We run through the park, zigzagging through tourists and street musicians alike. I take a quick peek back, and my heart sinks as I see the Eraser has been joined by several other Erasers. I run a little quicker. Then Iggy yells out "_Left!_" I automatically follow his directions, as I merge into the crowds of people entering the Central Park Zoo. Because nothing's better than doing a little sightseeing while being chased by murderous genetically modified wolf-dudes.

The flock melt into a school group. I suppress a giggle as the Phantom and Raoul also kneel down, trying to blend into the group of school kids. Meanwhile I also see the Erasers have spread out and are searching for us looking frustrated. One of them tries to get in, but a policeman blocks his way. "School day only. No unauthorized adults." After I get in I rejoin the rest of the flock inside. The Phantom and Raoul were able to successfully get in too (don't ask me how).

"The zoo!" Nudge says, practically quivering with excitement. "I've always wanted to see a zoo! I've read about 'em- I've seen them on TV. This is so great! Thanks Max."

"Whoa. Whoa. Hold it right there. I don't think staying here is a good idea." I begin.

"Why? The Erasers can't get in here. We're safe, and we've never been in a zoo before!"

"Yeah, but…" I was hoping to get rid of the Phantom and Raoul today. I guess it would be nice to have one more afternoon together before I ship them off to Broadway. "Oh. Alright."

"Yes!"

So we tour the zoo. There are polar bears, sea lions, and penguins. The polar is playing with his ball and rolling it around and in the water. I am able to relax a bit. We go to the next habitat, which it the monkeys. The Phantom is just fascinated by them. Maybe it's because of that music box he had? I don't know, but he keeps singing to them and poking at the glass. We get a lot of weird looks from people. Screw it, I am so used to it by now it doesn't even faze me.

After a while everyone starts getting tired though, so we decide to leave. I direct us to where the Phantom of the Opera Theater is. We land on the roof.

"Where are we?" Gazzy asks.

"We're just making a quick stop here. Phantom, Raoul? We're going inside." So we disappear into the door leading into the theater. Once inside there are people running and yelling and commotion everywhere. Some people are in extravagant costumes, others are in plain black clothes with headphones on. The Phantom and Raoul look confused.

"I know everything has been really confusing lately, but I want you guys to know that I really appreciate everything you've done, and we've had great times together. That being said, I think if you love something you should let it go." I have to pause a moment. I'm actually getting a little choked up. I wasn't expecting this. "I think you guys are going to like it here. And- and…Oh god! I'm going to miss you too so much! Even though you're completely homicidal, annoying, won't shut up, lunatics who keep squabbling with each other. That's a complement." I wipe a tear from my eye. Then the Phantom and Raoul both hug me.

"Christine…_No more talk of darkness, let daylight dry your tears, I'm here._" Raoul starts singing. The Phantom looks outraged that he beat him to the punch. I just start laughing hysterically.

"Phantom, I want you to promise me no more murdering people. And Raoul and I want you to promise me to actually try to come up with fool proof plans and listen to what other people (me) have to say…Oh man…It's been a blast you two." Just then one of the guys in black with a headphones on runs over an interrupts us.

"Raoul, Phantom, you guys are supposed to be on in _five minutes_."

"But-" Phantom starts.

"No buts, get out there." He pulls them away, and I give them one last fleeting wave goodbye. My stomach hurts. I feel…sad. I can't believe I just admitted that. I sigh. I head back upstairs.

"Max? Where'd Phantom and Raoul go?" Nudge asks, looking sad too. I glance back longingly at the stage door.

"They're in a better place now." Angel takes my hand (she can read my mind and knows what I'm thinking and how I feel), and squeezes it tight.

"It's alright Max. You still have us." I smile down at her.

"You're absolutely right. Come on. Let's go find the Institute.


	20. Chapter 20

**Hi everybody! Thanks for reading this far. Unfortunately, it seems as if we've almost come to the end of Maximum Ride :,( Don't worry though, I promise there will be more chapters of the next story soon! In the meantime, enjoy this chapter and review or comment. I love to hear your opinion, positive or negative. And thanks to everyone who is following/favorited the story!**

We start walking. I don't know where, but we're walking somewhere so that's something. After about four blocks, Iggy starts to get impatient.

"Do you even know where we're going?" He asks, tapping his foot.

"…"

"Great. I thought so. Is that your plan to find the Institute? Just walk around till we stumble upon it?"

"No!...Well, sort of…"

"How about a _real _plan?"

"Hey, I _have _a real plan."

"Please enlighten us."

"Well…We're never going to find the Institute like this-"

"Like we didn't already know that."

"Let me _finish_…So as I was saying. We'll never find the Institute like this. What if instead of us looking for it, they showed it to us?"

"Max, are you sure your headache is gone?" Gazzy laughs at Iggy's joke.

"Just think about it. Where do Erasers go after they attack us? The nearest headquarters, which in New York City would most likely be the Institute. So I think instead of running away, we should follow them back to the Institute."

"Max-" Iggy starts, but Angel cuts him off.

"I think Max is right. It's a good idea, and unless you have a better one it's the best we have."

"Wow. Angel, thank you for agreeing with me."

"What do we do?" Fang asks.

"You're not going to like this, but for once we need to bring as much attention to ourselves as possible."

"Then let's go to a really crowded area and bring attention to ourselves." Gazzy says.

"Let's go to the Empire State Building! I've never been there." Nudge says. I shudder involuntarily. Editors. Gossip Girl. Bad memories.

"Let's not. Any other ideas?"

"Times Square?"

"Hmm…That could work." I smile deviously, an idea popping into my head. "That could work very well."

We sit at one of those tables in the crowded streets.

"Everyone ready?" Everyone looks a little nervous, but I have confidence in them. "Turn it on."

"This is so stupid." Iggy moans.

"Keep the negativity to a minimum." Iggy turns on the dramatic music. I stand up on the table.

"HeeelllllooOOOO NEW YORK!" I scream. "Prepare to witness the most EXTRAORDINARY marvel you will ever see!" Nobody even looks in our direction.

"My name is Maximum Ride, and I am a product of genetic engineering!" Still nothing.

"I have wings!" Not even a blink. I don't understand I normally have no trouble getting crazy stares from people, but the one time I'm actually trying I can't get anyone to pay us any attention.

"I don't think this is working." I say as I lower the microphone.

"What making an idiot of yourselves? I think you've got that down." We all turn around to the voice behind us. Can you guess who it is? You're probably right.

"Ari..." I narrow my eyes. "Who was on lookout duty?" I ask.

"Sorry. I got distracted…" Gazzy says sorrowfully.

"It's okay. I can't stay angry at that face."

"That's so cute. Too bad I'll have to rip that face off." Ari says, showing off this teeth and laughing to himself at how witty he is.

"What is it with you Erasers and ripping things off? Okay, guys. Plan A. Go!" Fang and Iggy lunge at Ari, Nudge and Gazzy attack the two other Erasers that appear out of the crowd. Angel has already hidden on top of one of the buildings, ready to chase after the Erasers as soon as they run off. We fight for a few minutes, then I yell, "Fall back!"

We split up, lose the Erasers, and run to the meet up point via different routes. When I get there, Angel already has a location on Ari. We wait for the rest of the flock to show up, and then follow him. We fly in between the skyscrapers. Having eagle vision really does help keep track of him down below. After a good half hour, he finally stops in front of one of the skyscrapers. After he goes inside we fly down after him.

"Are we just going in the front entrance?" Gazzy asks.

"I guess we can try." We walk in. It's very fancy. Instead of going to the front desk, we go straight to the elevators. Or we try to go straight to the elevator. The guard stops us. We're thrown out.

"How are we going to get in now?" Nudge asks.

"I didn't want to have to do this, but I think we'll have to go in through the sewers." I shudder at the thought, I've had enough of stinky sewers for one book, but it has to be done. We locate the nearest sewer grate, hidden in a back alley. Just like I expected, the sewers were disgusting. Really, really gross. _Max_.

"Yeah?"

"What?" Iggy asks.

"What?"

"You said yeah." He says.

"Because you said my name."

"No I didn't."

"Are you sure?" _Max. It was me. _

"Who?" I ask to no one in particular.

"What?"

"Aaahahhaha! I'm so confused!" _Max. You shouldn't be here. Not yet. _

"Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away." _Max, I need you to listen to me. You can't go in there. Once you do, I won't be able to guide you. You need more time. You must turn around and go back._

"What?" Nothing. No answer. I just stand there, still a little shell shocked.

"Max are you alright?" Fang asks, sounding concerned.

"I don't know. I think I'm starting to hear voices in my head."

"Did you say _voices?_"

"Actually I think it's only one voice."

"Ooh good. So you're only a little insane."

"I'm not insane! I just…I think it was just my imagination…Let's keep going." I have to do this if I ever want to get home. I'll just fight through it.

After a while longer, we finally reach it. Set into one cruddy, disgusting sewer wall is an almost completely hidden gray metal door. It's locked. I'm not surprised.

"Guess we'll have to kick it down."

"Or…" Iggy stops me from ramming into the door. He pulls a bag out from thin air. "I have my lock picks."

"Umm. Where were you keeping that?" I ask, confused because I think I would notice if there was a strange bulge in Iggy's side.

"Not important."

"Okay…Well I guess that'll work too." I'm a little disappointed that I don't get to kick down the door action-movie style, but maybe next time. A few minutes later Iggy has the door unlocked. I open the door, which opens with a loud creak.

"Shit. Maybe no one heard that?"

"I guess we can hope." The doorway reveals a long, dark, endless staircase ahead of us. Going down. Of course. I put my foot on the first step. _Max, please listen to me. Everything is a test, and you are not ready for this test yet. It's not too late to turn around. You must not- _The voice cuts off as I step through the door. I pretend as if I didn't hear anything. I don't want to believe there's actually a voice in my head.

Every step we take up the stairs fills me with dread. It's very dark, we can barely see and very quiet so we can hear every movement we make. I feel like I'm being watched by someone unseen in the darkness and it horrifies me. The steps seem endless and there's no handrail, so that_ really_ makes me feel safe.

"There's a wall in front of you." Iggy says, shattering the silence. I reach my hand forward and cringe as it brushes against the slimy wall.

"Uggh. _Sewer walls_." I feel around and find a door and doorknob. I turn the knob and then throw the door open dramatically. We all stare blankly into the room in front of us.

"Is this is?" Nudge asks, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"There's nothing here!" Gazzy yells disappointed. We all gawk at the empty room before us.

"Shouldn't there be computers, or a lab, or something?!" Nudge says, with a mix of anger, despair, and shock.

"What do we do?" Iggy asks.

"Uhh."

"This is ridiculous! We came all this way for _this_?!" Iggy screams.

"I thought we were going to find our parents!"

"Angel said they had information on us here. Well I don't see anything!"

"Maybe Angel got it wrong?"

"I didn't! They said it would be here!"

"Well maybe you heard them wrong?!"

"I didn't! They _said-_"

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" Iggy looks angry, and Angel looks on the verge of tears, but everyone quiets down.

"Thank you. Now listen up! We're probably just in the basement or something. It's as simple as going upstairs to find some computers or whatever. It would help if we all stopped yelling, because I'm sure the Erasers heard us by now."

"You shouldn't be here." A voice says behind us. We all turn.

"What did I say?!" Our yelling seems to have attracted all the Erasers in the building. Which sucks because this must be an Erasers meet up spot or something cause there's a bunch of them. Leading them is none other than Ari.

"It wasn't just your yelling that brought us here." An Erasers begins, sounding very smug as if he were some little kid who was staring down at some ants (us) and knowing that any second he could burn them to crisps with his magnifying glass and there'd be nothing they could do to stop him. Very comforting.

"Shut up! You idiot. The Director does not want the plans revealed." Ari snarls at him. The Eraser cowers back.

"Wait a second…The plans? Director? Something is not right here… Was this a set up? The whole time?" Ari's silent.

"My voice said something about us being too early. Were you going to put something here? Like a test? Was this some sort of test?! Maybe to see if we were smart enough to track down our parents? Did you _want_ us to find our parents? Or maybe there would be…I don't know, like a room full of mutants and you wanted us to set them free because it would be symbolic for how I would save the world in the future like Jeb told me I would. Just an idea…But-but that doesn't make any sense…That means my voice must be working with the School."

"Your voice?" Fang sounds concerned.

"Yeah. That voice I was hearing before was telling me to turn back and-"

"I though you said that the voice was just your imagination?"

"I didn't want to believe it was real! But now it all makes sense." I point accusingly at Ari. "This was supposed to be a setup, but we showed up too early!" Ari smiles, showing off his teeth.

"I'm surprised you freaks figured it out. I suppose we'll have to change this test a little. How about we make it a little harder for you freaks?" He curls his fists into a ball, ready to fight.

"You know what?" I say, getting pretty angry now. I can feel it boiling to the surface. "You and your precious School can find someone else to test because I am done with you people. And could you please stop calling us freaks?! It's not funny or witty or a good comeback. And plus it's incredibly hypocritical because you're the one with the dog snout for Pete's sake. In fact, really it's you guys who are the freaks because who in their right minds spends their life trying to genetically combine people and animal DNA? Do something more useful with your lives, like save the rainforest. Just leave us alone, and stop chasing us and never giving us a break. And stop trying to controlling us, because you know what, we are people, not _animals!_ And we have the right to do whatever we want, except for like breaking laws because laws are there for reasons, blahblahblah, you know what I mean."

"But you'll never know who your parents are."

"So what?"

"But-" Nudge begins.

"Who our parents are don't define us. Maybe they loved us, maybe they didn't, maybe if we went to find them they would love and care us forever, maybe not. But I don't care anymore. It doesn't matter. I have the flock." I smile at Fang and hold Angel's hand. "The flock is my family and they're all I need, no matter how cheesy that sounds, it's true."

"You're just going to walk out of here?" Ari asks, incredulous.

"Yes. I think I will." I turn to walk out the door.

"You-you can't do that! The Director won't allow it."

"The Director can kiss my ass." I turn back to tell Ari.

"Not if We can help it." I put my hands on my hips. "Real original. Ari. I feel like you're not even trying to make witty comebacks anymore... Ari?" Ari looks really confused. More confused than usual. More like a "not sure what's going on" confused, not a "she is crazy" confused.

"I-I didn't say that." I realize too late what's going on. He stares past me.

"Well, shit." is all I can manage. I feel like puking as I turn around to face the large Editor dressed in white standing behind me. If I thought the Erasers were intimidating, this guy makes the Erasers look like kindergarteners.

"D-did you say 'we'?" I gaze up at him.

"Max? Who is this guy?" Fang asks.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" An unimportant Eraser growls. (I know this Eraser is doomed because he's only had one line and he's a background character, and very expendable). The Editor raises his eyebrow, looking entertained. "You can't just barge in here and interrupt us like that! And this is private propertyyyeee." The expendable Eraser trails off as the Editor shoots a tranquilizer at him (Told ya). He drops like a rock. The rest of the Erasers look really angry.

"Max, who _are_ these guys?" Nudge asks, sounding concerned.

"Editors."

"You mean Erasers?"

"No, Editors."

"Wait, what?"

"Look, long story short, they are bad news and they don't like me very much."

"What do we do?"

"Um…Run?" The Erasers spring forward to attack the lone Editor. I make the mistake of hoping that the Erasers might be able to fight him off, since there's a bunch of them and only one of him. Unfortunately my hopes are shattered into a million pieces as more Editors suddenly appear from the doorway to back up their buddy.

"Yeah. Run." The Erasers and Editors start brawling. I grab Nudge's hand and make for the stairwell, which is now not blocked because the Erasers abandoned guarding it to fight. I run as quickly as my legs will allow. I can't help but feel déjà vu from in the Mortal Instruments when the werewolves and vampires were fighting…Thinking back on it, it was pretty ridiculous. Just thinking it out loud makes me realize how crazy it was, yet I remember feeling terrified like I am now. I start giggling. This is all ridiculous. Why am I so terrified? I've escaped the Editors and Erasers before, and if I could escape werewolves and vampires I can escape this.

"Are you laughing?" Iggy screams.

"I just remembered something funny."

"At a time like this?"

"Well-" Suddenly I hear the door crash open below us. "Ahhh! Good point. Let's pick up the pace you guys!" I pick my feet up faster. I'm terrified again. I'm starting to get tired. Just keep running. Just keep running.

"Max! Door up ahead!" I hear Fang yell behind me.

"Right!" I reach the top and dodge to the right, where the door is. I burst through, into the lobby of the building we're in. I start to run for the exit, but Fang grabs my elbow.

"They're at the exits!" he points to the men in white coming through the doors.

"Okay. Um." Oh god. I can't think. I gaze around in a panic. My eyes find the elevator. "The elevator! GO!" We all rush in. We barely fit. I slam my fist into the closing door button. It closes just as the Editors reach us. The elevator starts to rise. We're all breathing heavily. I'm suddenly having horribly flashbacks to the last time I had an encounter with the Editors. It did not end well. I shudder as I think of that Editor convulsing and-

"You killed someone?!" Angel exclaims in horror. Oh shit. I forgot she can read minds.

"It-it was an accident!"

"What?" Nudge yells.

"Max!"

"What? It wasn't really my fault!"

"What's going on?"

"Okay, so maybe it was my fault! But I still feel awful about it and I regret it and it haunts me in my nightmares-"

"MAX!" Fang yells. I never heard him speak louder than an indoor voice before.

"WHAT?"

"The elevator is about to reach the top floor, what do we do?"

"If we all rush out at once they won't be able to get us right?" I'm scrambling to come up with a good plan. Fang's silence tells me it's a bad one.

"I don't know…Could we crawl onto the top of the elevator?" I suggest, trying a different approach.

"And get crushed?"

"Fine…Let's just-" Suddenly the elevator doors open. We all tense, ready for an all-out attack. I close my eyes, ready to be tazered or tranquilized or godknowswhat. But nothing happens. I peel one eye open. There's nothing.

"Ha! First luck all day. Come on, let's go before they reach us."

"Go where?"

"Out the window."

"Out the window?"

"We can fly can't we?" Nudge looks nervous. So does Angel and Gazzy.

"Don't worry everything will be fine." I squeeze Angel's hand, and pat Gazzy on the back. Then I turn to Nudge and hug her. I let go and give a quick glance around the hallway we ended up in. The Editors will be here any second. The red of a fire extinguisher catches my eye. I grab it and tear it off the wall.

"Watch out!" I pick it up and hurl it through the window. The glass shatters everywhere, and I cover my face to keep glass from hitting me. The wind blows through the corridor, making my hair fly wildly around my face. Iggy is the first one out. Then Gazzy and Nudge. It's just me, Angel, and Fang.

"You have to let them go." A voice says behind me. It's so quiet I can barely hear it. I turn around quickly, but no one's there. It doesn't sound like my other voice from before. This one is different. I swear it almost sounded like Nemo, but that's _really_ crazy. I may be crazy but not _that_ crazy. Right? _Right?_

"Max?" Fang says.

"Yes? Sorry I thought I heard something."

"Max, please don't be a hero."

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't wait here for the Editors, Erasers, whatever. Just please leave with the rest of the flock." He seemed to have read my mind. I don't answer. What can I say?

"I won't." I grab his hand. "Go on. I'll be right behind you." He jumps out and flies toward the rest of the flock. I feel really guilty now. But I deep down I know that it's time for me to leave. It's almost as if that voice was my conscience talking to me...in Nemo's voice? Whatever. If I stay with the flock the Editors and the Erasers will be after us. I can't imagine what the Editors will do if they catch them. Do they reset them so they can't remember? Erase them completely and replace them with clones of themselves? It could be anything. It makes me feel awful, and even worse thinking about the other stories and people, I mean characters that I abandoned.

"Max, please don't go." Angel tugs on my shirt. "You don't have to. We can keep running, the Editors won't find us." I kneel down to speak to her, face to face. Mano e Mano. Sis to Sis imposter. Leader of flock to member of flock. Okay now I'm just stalling because I don't want to face my problems.

"I have to. It's the right thing to do."

"Why do you have to do the right thing? Why not do what you want?"

"Because I want you to be safe and happy and that won't happen if the Editors are chasing us looking for me. And because it wouldn't be fair to you."

"But I want you to stay."

"I know, and I want to stay. But you can't keep on living this way. With people chasing you and never feeling safe." She looks down, not looking in my eyes. "When I'm gone, I want you to live life. Be a child. Have fun. You have an incredible gift. These wings are freaking awesome. It's like a roller-coaster attached to your back. Just have fun." God, this is coming out so corny. I can never express my feelings without sounding like an idiot. "Don't let them tell you who to be. You are your own person. And let the flock know this too. And make sure they stay together. Please."

"O-okay." I hug her tightly. I don't want to let go. I enjoyed being part of something. A family. Sort of. Since I can't remember anything about my actual one. And it was nice to get to know the flock, I find it hard to believe that they're just made up characters sometimes. I hate to admit it, but I had fun. Actual fun. Not just running for my life. Of course that's when the Editors finally showed up.

"Isn't that sweet?" I let go of Angel and push her towards the window.

"I'll be fine. Promise." I turn away from her. If I look back I'll break down, and I can't do that. One of the Editors moves to stop her, but the head Editors puts his hand up.

"It doesn't matter. Let it go. Our mission is this one."

"This one' has a name." He starts laughing.

"Oh really. Then tell us what it is." I open my mouth but close it. "That's what I thought." We stand there for a few seconds. It bothers me that he knew I couldn't remember my name. This means he must have dealt with other people like me before. But what happened to them?

"Are you going to try to run away this time? Get it out of your system, I don't feel like running around all day."

"I think we both know I don't have any chance of running away from you." He laughs at this. I slowly step backwards.

"Smart girl."

"Good thing I don't have to run away from you." He rolls his eyes. I take a step backwards.

"Let me guess. You're going to try to jump out that broken window behind you and then jump to a different story." I step backwards, where the broken window is. The Editor holds up some sort of device and presses some buttons. I lean back so I can fall out the window, when my back presses against the cold glass. I involuntarily gasp. That window was broken just a moment ago. Now I'm worried. I glance back at the wall and the fire extinguisher is back in its spot. There goes my brilliant plan.

"What the f-"

"Please, language." The Editors says, smiling. "This book is not supposed to have language like this. You're not supposed to be in this book."

"Neither are you." I point out.

"I'm just here to clean up your mess."

"Excuse me?"

"You are a glitch in the system. A hiccup. A mutant. A rogue. A mess up. Get it?"

"No. I don't even want to be here! I just want to go home."

"That's not possible."

"But-Nemo…But then what will you do?" He laughs again. It's starting to bother me.

"We'll send you to a very nice place, where you can feel free to live all your daydreams out, without interfering in any stories."

"A very nice place? You make it sound like you kill people. Or would you rather call it 'releasing them', 'putting them to sleep', 'retiring them', being sent to Urinetown? Take your pick."

"At least we don't actually kill people."

"I-I…That was an accident. And it haunts me. I have trouble sleeping. I-" I wish people would stop bringing that up.

"Enough excuses. I must say I was rather impressed. It was well done. I could not have done it better myself." I stare at him.

"Oh my god. You're a sick sadist."

"You're the one that killed one of my partners."

"Okay but I regretted it and I did not enjoy one second of it. But I did, so why don't you just get your revenge by killing me?"

"It's against policy." He says, looking bored.

"Policy? Human life is policy? Not just common moral sense?"

"Common moral sense? Please. You must be joking." I have to get out of here. This guy is crazy. I bang my hand against the window. It doesn't do anything, except hurt my hand.

"Don't even try. You'll just exhaust yourself." I frown at him.

"You're really negative. Maybe that's your problem."

"Maybe you're too optimistic."

"Maybe I'm just hopeful."

"And look where that's gotten you." I scowl at him. "Pessimist." I mumble under my breath. He's standing there smiling and looking smug. It makes me sick. Then the look on his face changes. There's a moment of confusion and horror. I'm a little offended, but then realize he's not looking at me, but over my shoulder. I duck down instinctively as Fang comes crashing through. Glass shatters everywhere (again). I grab him and jump back out before the Editors get up. We fly into the New York City skyline.

"Fang. You weren't supposed to come back!"

"And you weren't supposed to be a hero."

"…Well, thanks." I don't say that often. "I would have been in deep trouble without you."

"I couldn't leave you. None of us could. You're part of our family." I bite my tongue to keep from crying, I'm so touched. We land on a nearby skyscraper, where the rest of the flock is waiting.

"Max. I told them." Angel says.

"Told them?"

"About how you're not really Max."

"I-I don't know what you're talking about. Don't listen to her. She's tired and had a long day. She's probably hallucinating or something."

"Max, um, sorry, I don't know your real name…But it's alright. We know." I guess the cat's out of the bag.

"I'm really sorry for lying to you."

"It's alright. It wasn't that hard to believe. You don't exactly act like Max." I can't help but laugh at that.

"At least I tried…" We stand there for a while. Everyone quiet.

"Does this mean you'll stay?" Gazzy asks. I swallow, my throat feeling dry.

"I'm sorry but…" I see his face fall. How do I explain it to him?

"Will you be alright?" Fang asks, touching my arm gently. I nod.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I've got Nemo. He's well...Nevermind. I'll be fine. I've gotten used to the idea of being chased by crazy psychos."

"I'll miss you."

"You're just saying that because you'd miss Max." That's just the author causing Fang to miss Max.

"No. I'll miss you because you're part of our family. An honorary flock member." I give him a little smile. Then I go around and give each person a hug.

"Yep. Better be going. On to the next story." I turn away from them as I face the edge of the skyscraper. I picture a doorway before me, leading into a new mysterious world. I grab the doorknob. I feel…horrified? Excited? I can't really tell. I turn it and take a step forward. I start to fall forward. _Here goes nothing_. Max's world disappears. I close my eyes as the next world starts to replace it.

**Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it! Please review and favorite. I promise to the next chapter soon. And did anyone catch that Urinetown, and The Giver references? If you don't know what those are, look it up! (Especially Urinetown. I was in a production recently and it is really awesome). Thanks :) **


	21. Chapter 21

**Sorry for the long update! School and stuff. Apologies. But here's this chapter. If you haven't read the Warriors series, no problem you should be able to catch on all you really need to know is it's about cats (although you should read some of the books cause their good and I love cats). Also, I poke fun at the book, but it's all in good sport. I think it's a great series and please don't be offended. So read and review!**

My hands and legs feel strange. Sort of tingly and I'm a little freaked out about it. I open my eyes and peer around at the new world I entered into. I gaze around. I'm in a forest. Whoop-dee-freaking-do. Except I realize however that this is a giant forest. The trees tower over me, like the redwood trees in California, expect for the fact that they're clearly not redwood trees. So I guess I'm in a giant forest. That makes this an enchanted forest. Yawn. Been there, done that, moving on.

I start to walk forward to explore the forest. Walking feels weird though, but I can't put my finger on it.

"Ouch!" I whimper as I step on a thorn. I peer down at my hand to inspect the damage. I freeze. I just stare at my hand in shock, because it is not a hand I'm staring at, it's a _paw_. I blink a few times to be sure I'm not just seeing things. Then I move the paw to be sure it belongs to me. It moves with me. A sinking feelings swells in my stomach.

"No. No. No. NO. NO. THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" I panic and start to run, as if I could chase away my new shape. I see a small stream through the trees and make for it. I pause as I stare at my reflection in the water. Staring back at me is a cat. A shabby dark-gray cat with orange eyes glared at me.

"AHAHHHAHHA!" I scream (along with some other choice words). "I am NOT A CAT. THIS CANNOT BE HAPPENING." I continue with my panic attack until I trip over a stick and fall face first into the ground.

"Even when I'm a cat I can't land on my feet!" I whimper. "This sucks."

Suddenly a strong force leaps on me, and plants me to the ground. The creature's claws dig into my back. I hiss, and then realize that I just hissed and curse at myself. None of it helps me though because I'm still pinned to the ground.

"You're in ThunderClan's hunting ground. Move on!" The voice of the creature that jumped on me commands. I wiggle my way around to face him. It's another cat. I clear my throat.

"P-Please don't hurt me." I whimper. "I wasn't hunting. I was just, uhh, lost."

"Don't try to trick me, _ShadowClan _cat. I am not as dull as you think." The cat hisses at me.

"I'm not trying to trick you! And I'm sure you're very smart. Now if we're both agreed how about you let me go, and I'll move on and-"

"I am _warning you_. Enough trickery!"

"I am NOT tricking you!" I yell back at him, baring my fangs. Before I could try to wiggle my way free, the sound of soft paw-fall on the leaf litter and the sound of fur swishing through branches alerts me to the arrival of more cats. Great. Now I'm surrounded.

"Hi, Firepaw!" One of the voices calls out. It sounds friendly, so I assume he was talking to the cat on top of me, who must be Firepaw.

"Silence!" Another voice growls.

"Firepaw?" A third voice joined in. This one sounded feminine and authoritative. "What have we here? An enemy warrior?"

I hear some argument between the cats. I don't really care enough to listen, I just want to get out of here. The cat, Firepaw, had finally gotten off of me to speak with the other cats. I start to slip away.

"Where do you think you're going?" The angry looking cat growls at me. He blocks my exit. I glare at him.

"Calm yourself, Tigerclaw." The female commands. "I know this cat. You are ShadowClan's medicine cat, Yellowfang, aren't you?" She asks me. I shrug my shoulders at her.

"I guess."

"Yellowfang!" Tigerclaw meows mockingly at me. "It looks like you have fallen on hard times if you can be beaten by an apprentice!"

"He caught me by surprise." I exclaim, irritated by this "Tigerclaw".

"Come. We'll take her back to camp. Then we'll decide what to do with her." The female cat, who I assume is the leader declares.

"Do I any get input?" I ask.

"How about this. You could try to fight or outrun all of us and probably die trying, or you can come peacefully to our camp, _ShadowClan_." Tigerclaw hisses at me. I can smell the mouse on his breath and it makes me flinch.

"Fine. But do me a favor, and get some breath mints."

"What is a breath mints?" Tigerclaw asks. I blink at him, forgetting that cats don't use breath mints.

"It's a ShadowClan thing, you wouldn't get it." I say, and move on, following the cats to their camp.

As we pass the sentries who guard the camp entrance, the rest of ThunderClan comes to greet the cats returning home. As they notice me, they start to gape. Some of them start to jeer at me. I don't care enough to deal with them though, because I'm still trying to figure out where I am/whatthefudgeisgoingon. I know there are two cat clans, ThunderClan and ShadowClan, which I assume are enemies. And I'm in ThunderClan camp as a ShadowClan cat. Even I know that's not good.

We reach a corner and the leader nods at the dusty ground, motioning for me to sit down.

"You want me to just sit on the dirt? Do you know how dirty I'll get?" They ignore me. I suck it up, take a deep breath, and lower myself onto the ground. Ugh. It's very uncomfortable. Then another cat approaches me. She bandages my wounds with spiderwebs. Eww. I look on in shock.

"For a medicine cat you look as if you have never seen someone bandage a wound before." The cat says. I freeze. I can't blow my cover this soon in the story.

"I-um. It's just very different to have some else bandage my wounds." I lie. The cat leaves. No one else approaches me. They all go about their daily chores (although I do get a few stares). I wonder what the chances are that I could try to escape. As I analyze my surroundings, I realize that it's probably less than zero. I'm surrounded by enemies and I don't even know where the exit is.

I lay my head down and let out a sigh of frustration. This sucks. This is worse than Gossip Girl. Hmm. That gets me thinking…I was able to jump out of Gossip Girl quickly, could I do it again? My heart leaps at the hope of being human again.

I stand up and mentally prepare myself to jump. I imagine the wooden door in front of me with a shiny golden door handle that's a little rusty around the edges. I reach my hand out to open it. Then I remember that I no longer have a hand, but a paw. My paw slides past the door handle. I reach back up with both my paws but they get no traction. I lose my concentration, the door disappears, and I fall forward on my face into the dirt.

"Owww." I complain through a mouthful of dirt. "Stupid No-Opposable Thumb Paws!" I yell in frustration. This elicits more stares from the cats. I turn around so I don't have to face them. This is going to be hard to get through. Firepaw appears next to me.

"Are you okay?" He sounds concerned.

"Yeah. It's just a- um ShadowClan ritual." I lie. He buys it.

"You should get some rest. We're having a meeting later." He says. I nod and he walks away. I lower my head down to rest. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll dream about being a human again.

"Yellowfang!" Firepaw jumps in front of me, scaring me from my peaceful nap. I jump about ten feet in the air.

"Don't _do _that!" I reprimand him. He looks down sadly. He looks like he's fighting back tears. No matter how angry I am, I feel bad.

"Chin up, kid. Don't worry about it." I awkwardly pat him on the back trying to be comforting. I guess it helps. He looks up eagerly.

"So what did you wake me from my peaceful slumber for?"

"We're having a meeting!" He reminds me.

"Oh right…" I remember. I gaze around, still hazy from sleep. All the ThunderClan cats are gathering together to listen to their leader. Firepaw sits next to me, and another of his friends, Graypaw joins us.

"Bluestar's about to start." Grawpaw mews at him. _Bluestar. _That must be the female leader from before. I raise my head to listen to her speak.

"I'm sure you have all heard about the prisoner we brought back with us today." Hm, that must be me.

"But there is something else you need to know." Bluestar glances down at me.

"Can you hear me from there?" She asks.

"I'm like five feet away." I mumble.

"What?" She asks.

"Yeah! All communications clear." I joke. No one else gets it. Okay then.

"I'm afraid I have some very grave news. Today I traveled with a patrol into WindClan territory. The air was filled with the scent of ShadowClan." I get some nasty stares from some nearby cats. "Almost every tree had been sprayed by ShadowClan warriors. And we met no WindClan cats even though we journeyed deep into their heartland." Her words are met with silence.

"Do you mean ShadowClan has chased them out?" Called a cat from the back.

"We can't be sure. Certainly the scent of ShadowClan was everywhere. We found blood, too, and fur. There must have been a battle, though we found no bodies from either Clan." There's a tumult of disgruntled comments and groans, etc. Finally Bluestar takes control again.

"I don't know the answers to any of your questions. It is well known that ShadowClan has recently appointed a new leader, following the death of Raggedstar. Their new leader, Brokenstar, gave no hint of any threat when we met him at the last Gathering." His name is Brokenstar? Looks like I found the villain.

"Perhaps Yellowfang has answers? After all, she is of ShadowClan!" A cat snarls. I turn to give him a death glare for bringing attention to me. More arguments break out.

"That's enough!" Bluestar growls. "This situation is too serious for us to be fighting among ourselves. ThunderClan must prepare itself. From this moonrise onward, warriors will travel in larger groups. Other Clan members will remain close to the camp. Patrols will travel the boundary edges more frequently, and all the kits must stay in the nursery." Bluestar continues to give leadership, and it doesn't really seem to concern me, so I start to blank out. I'm brought back by the mention of my name.

"Yellowfang will be allowed to stay here until she has recovered her strength. We are warriors, not savages. She is to be treated with respect and courtesy." Bluestar says.

"But the Clan cannot support Yellowfang. We have too many mouths to feed already." A cat complains.

"I don't want to be 'that guy' but if food is so scarce, then how come all the clans aren't working together to hunt food? Or have you ever thought of mooching off humans until the food comes back? Or maybe start farming? Really anything would be more practical than this." I point out.

"The clans working _together?_" Tigerclaw hisses in shock.

"Humans?" Grawpaw asks Firepaw next to him.

"Twolegs." Firepaw explains.

"Farming?" Another background cat asks.

"Surely Yellowfang has lost her mind. We should put her out of her misery now." Tigerclaw suggests.

"Hey!" I yell. "I have not lost my mind, I'm just thinking practically!"

"It is clear Yellowfang is very injured and physically drained. We will not take her life. She just needs some rest."

"You people just need some logic." I hiss under my breath.

"Firepaw it will be your responsibility to hunt and care for Yellowfang." Bluestar says.

"Yes, Bluestar." Firepaw agrees, but he doesn't look too happy. I'm not too happy to be stuck with him either, believe me.

"The meeting is over. I would like to speak to my senior warriors alone now." Bluestar says, ending the meeting. Firepaw and Graypaw leave me. No one else approaches me. I'm tired, even though I just woke up from a nap. There's nothing else to do, so I guess I'll go to sleep again.

Just as I start to lay my head down, something soft brushes against my face. A feather floats down to the ground. I freeze. Oh my god...I thought this couldn't get weirder but I come to the realization that I still have the wings from Maximum Ride. I squeeze them against my back. I guess they blend into my fur because no one seems to notice anything. Does this make me a griffin? Or a sphinx? Or GodKnowsWhat? _What am I going to do?_

I take deep breaths. I can do this. It's only wings. On a cat. I am a cat with wings. I never thought that sentence would apply to me. All I can do now is try to get some sleep.

Of course nothing is _that _simple.

I get about 15 minutes of sleep before the nightmare starts. I'm stuck in an elevator. The lights start flashing. Then they completely black out. My heart starts pounding. The doors open and I'm on the Empire State Building again. My favorite. A light drizzle starts, and lightning flashes across the sky, remnant of the flashing lights from the elevator. Then an Editor appears, towersing above me. He seems to grow taller and more intimidating. My hands wrap around the electric rod that appeared out of nowhere in my hand. As I electrocute him, his face begins to morph. At first I see Fang's face, then the Phantom's, Jace's, Nemo's, and then it stops on a disfigured combination of the different faces I've had. I stumble back in shock (no pun intended). The railings disappear, and my foot slips off. I start falling. This time my wings don't work, and I can't jump. I can only see the disfigured face growing smaller as the ground below me gets closer.

_I couldn't have done it better myself_, the Editor's voice mocks me.

That's when I bolt awake. I'm hyperventilating. My paws are shaking. I glance around out of paranoia to be sure there are no Editors. That dream freaked me out more than I care to admit. It's not even real! I know its cliché, but it felt so real. I thought I was going to die…

I guess sometimes it's easy to forget that just because this is a story doesn't mean I can't get hurt. My eyes blur for a moment. Am I crying? I brush away the moisture. I'm still shaking. I just need to calm down. I don't think I'm going to go back to bed.

I force myself to stay awake as the sun rises. The cats around me start to stir. Firepaw trots up to me.

"Good morning."

"Hmm." I mumble.

"You look tired." He observes.

"You could say that." I sigh. I try to reposition my leg to get more comfortable. I cringe as a sharp pain spikes up my leg.

"Looks like your leg is still hurting. I'll go get some herbs from Spottedleaf for that. And maybe some poppy seeds to chew on." Firepaw sprinted away. My mind is still stuck on the nightmare when he returns. He drops the bundle in front of me.

"Thanks." I tell him. He turns to leave.

"Wait a second. Firepaw. Can I ask you something?" He looks back at me, questioningly, but he remains.

"You were owned by humans right? A, what did you call it? A-"

"A kittypet?"

"Yeah. And you were given the choice to either be a kittypet or a warrior. You chose warrior."

"Yeah." Firepaw sits there expectantly.

"Do you ever...regret your decision? Wish you could go back home?" I ask. Firepaw looks down. He doesn't answer. Then he looks back up.

"I don't think so. I'm part of ThunderClan now." He says, but I can detect a hint of hesitation.

"Thanks. I was just wondering." I nod. He looks a little confused, but goes on his way. I'm left again with only myself and my thoughts. This is really getting old. I'm so bored, I don't even notice when I fall asleep. Did you know cats sleep 20 hours a day? I can now verify that is true.

When I wake up from my catnap, I have some of Yellowfang's memories. I learn that Yellowfang was framed for the death of ShadowClan kits by a different cat. I can't remember the cat's name, but his scarred, dark brown tabby fur sticks in my mind and stirs a feeling of contempt. Obviously my first instinct is to tell the ThunderClan cats about this, because not telling anyone about this horrifying deed would be silly. As I wander around looking for Firepaw I find that my leg is better.

"Firepaw!" I call urgently once I find him. "I didn't kill any kits! It was the scarred ShadowClan cat!"

"What kits?" He asks.

"I was framed by this cat for killing kits, which I didn't do, and I was exiled from my clan and we need to do something!" Firepaw gives me a dumbfounded look.

"What do you want to do?" He asks. Now it's my turn to be dumbfounded. I didn't think this far ahead. Luckily an idea pops into my head.

"We should tell Bluestar!" I suggest. Firepaw cringes.

"She left for the Gathering." He says. "I was about to go but you called me."

"How long was I asleep for?! Come on, let's go." I command. He follows after me. I'm determined and I keep walking. Then I stop.

"Um…So where is this Gathering?" I ask, a little embarrassed.

"Oh, I'll show you." Firepaw leads the way. Not ideal, but oh well. A few minutes later we come upon the so-called "Gathering". It looks like Bluestar is giving an important speech. I spot the cat from my memory. Bluestar can finish her speech later. I pounce into the glade. All the other cats gasp in shock. I'm starting to enjoy that. Before I can begin my dramatic, intense speech, the cat from my memory interrupts me.

"Yellowfang!" He hisses. The cats around him start to close around me, menacingly.

"You!" I reply dramatically (and also cause I don't know his name). "Warriors of all the clans! This cat is a liar and a murderer! He killed the ShadowClan kits and then blamed me for it. You cannot trust him and he must be punished."

I give him a smug smile. For a second he looks worried, and then his expression changes. That's not good.

"Me? Kill kits from my own clan? Impossible." He says, manipulating the other cats into believing him.

"It's true!" I exclaim. The other cats don't seem to believe me. Bluestar intervenes.

"Yellowfang, are you trying to say Brokenstar killed ShadowClan's own kits?" She asked. Brokenstar! That was his name!

"Yes."

"What proof do you have?"

"…eyewitness proof?" They're not buying it. "And I pinky promise with a cherry on top?"

Bluestar shrugs. "That's good enough for me."

I breathe a sigh of relief at this. Brokenstar looks enraged. I shoot him another smug smile because I'm soaking in my victory. And then he pounces on me.

"Oh shi-" I start to run away, but his claws dig into my shoulders. I hiss in pain and my fur stands on end. I roll around and crush him underneath me. I feel his claws release. Blood soaks my fur.

"Ouch." I murmur.

"It seems Yellowfang was telling the truth." Bluestar proclaims, and the other cats encircle Brokenstar.

"That was easy." That seems like the climax of the plot to me. Time to get out of here before I fall asleep again.

"Oh look, something in the trees over there. I'll be right back." That's the best excuse I can come up with, but they buy it. They discuss what to do with Brokenstar while I steal away. I picture the door in front of me.

"Yellowfang?" I hear behind me. My concentration is broken. I turn to find Firepaw.

"Firepaw?"

"I thought about what you asked earlier today. And I want you to know that I'm part of ThunderClan now. At times I may wish that I stayed a kittypet, but then I remember how bored and pointless that felt. If I were given the choice again, I would chose ThunderClan everytime."

"Wow…um. I don't really know what to say."

"Well. I hope I answered your question." Firepaw says and then bounds away. I think about what he said for a moment. I guess being a hero is more exciting than having a mundane routine life. Then I remember the Editors. Is that excitement worth having to face them? I shove the thoughts away and focus on getting out of this story so I can be human again.

Once more I picture the door. Last time I couldn't turn the handle. But I remember my cats opening doors by pushing on the bottom with their paws, although I can't remember their names or even what color fur they had. But the point is it's worth a shot to try that. I push at the bottom and by some miracle it swings open. I could have done that the entire time. Sometimes I really hate myself. I fall forward and pray to God I won't be a cat in the next story.

**There you go! I hope you liked it! I'll try to update more often, but please don't hate me if I can't:'(…and Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**Happy Holidays all! Sorry it's been so long since an update. I'm really excited for the next few chapters because it's one of my favorite series. So enjoy!**

I'm not a cat. That's good news. I'm also enveloped by very comfy blankets and cushioned by very soft pillows. The blankets and pillows match the very luxurious surroundings. Trees rush past through the window so I assume we must be moving. Maybe on a train? Either way, this is much more my style. I breathe in the sweet comfort of the room. It's nice to finally have a lucky break.

"Up, up, up! It's going to be a big, big, big day!" A light and happy voice calls me. I smile. This story will be easy. I can tell already. I untangle myself from the silky sheets and dress. I enter the next car which seems to be a dining car. I can tell because the moment I enter I'm hit with the delicious smells of freshly baked bread and cinnamon. My stomach grumbles. The last meal I had was a mouse. Now my mouth salivates at the sight of these pastries, even though I don't know what half of them are.

As I reach out for a plate, ready to pile on a mountain of the delicacies, a woman with a ridiculous hairstyle and a dress to match it passes by. She's muttering obscenities under her breath. She must have been the woman who woke me. The hairs on my arm stand up as I vaguely recognize her, but I can't quite place her. I clutch my plate, very heavy from all my food.

Then a man appears with a puffy, red face. Another kid, around my age, walks next to me. He smiles at me and grabs a roll.

"Sit down! Sit down!" The older, crusty man says, waving me over. I notice him pouring a clear liquid into his drink, and I doubt its water. These characters seem hauntingly familiar. Suddenly my croissant tastes stale on my tongue. I swallow hard.

"I-I'm not feeling too well." I stutter out. The kind looking boy rises, looking concerned.

"Katniss, what's wrong?" He says, reaching his hand out to comfort me. I freeze. He did not say what I think he just said. My eye twitches involuntarily. My hands tightened on the plate and my teeth clench.

"What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?" I hiss through my teeth. The boy looks a little scared. He swallows cautiously before answering, "Katniss?"

My eye widened in terror. I throw my plate of pastries dramatically.

"No, no, no, no, no!" I scream, and run out of the car, leaving a shocked and confused Peeta, Haymitch, and Effie. I escape back to my room. On my nightstand I catch sight of Katniss's iconic mockingjay pin.

"NO!" I run to the window and throw back the curtains. I see the sign for District 4 flash by.

"OOHHH NOOO!" I turn away and run out of my room. I just run and run through every compartment until I come to the caboose. It gives me the perfect view of the path we've been traveling. I see what I came for, the door. It's made of glass. I pull on it, but it's locked. I scream some more in frustration. Wait a second, it's made of glass. I'm such an idiot. I smash against it, but I barely scratch it. I back up and run forward, but only hurt my shoulder. I pick up the vase of flowers on the table and throw it against the door. Still nothing.

I take a deep breathe. There's no escape. I'm trapped in the Hunger Games. I don't think I can survive in the Arena. I'm going to die. _No._ No. I can do this. I just need to calm down and follow the plot. Yeah. I have plot armor. I'm Katniss. They can't kill _Katniss_. She's the protagonist. Plus, in theory, I should have her bow and arrow skills, and maybe even some of her other hunting skills. Right?

I really hope so. I count to one hundred to calm myself. Then I force myself to look composed as I return to the dining car. As I peek my head in, Peeta looks scared, Haymitch looks disgusted, and Effie looks concerned.

"Are you…okay?" Peeta asks finally. I nod.

"Yeah. I'm good." I try to think of a good excuse for my behavior. "I just really hate these crossiants. Disgusting."

They exchange glances, but don't question me. I sit back down. What happens now?

"So, you're supposed to give us advice?" I ask.

"Here's some advice, stay alive." Haymitch answers, and then bursts out laughing.

"That's very funny." Peeta says, then lashes out and smashes the drink in Haymitch's hand. "Only not to us."

Haymitch considers this a moment, then punches Peeta in the jaw, knocking him from his chair. I don't know where it came from, but suddenly my hand shoots out, grabs a knife, and I drive it into the table between Haymitch's hand and the bottle, barely missing his fingers.

"Well, what's this? Did I actually get a pair of fighters this year?" Neither Peeta nor I answer him. He nods towards me. "Can you hit anything with that knife besides a table?"

I decide to take advantage of my new Katniss skills. Instead of just answering him, I show off a little. I grab the knife, and throw it at the far wall. It sticks in between two panels. Haymitch raises an eyebrow for a second, but I caught him being impressed.

"Stand over here. Both of you." He motions towards the middle of the room. We obey, and he circles us, prodding us like animals at times, checking our muscles, examining our faces. It is degrading.

"Well, you're not entirely hopeless. Seem fit. And once the stylists get hold of you, you'll be attractive enough." He says. I put my hand on my hip defiantly.

"Excuse me? What right have they to judge me on my looks? I thought this was a game to the death, why do my looks matter at all?" I ask, angrily.

"The best-looking tributes always pull more sponsors, which is exactly what you want." Haymitch answers. "All right, I'll make a deal with you. You don't interfere with my drinking, and I'll stay sober enough to help you, but you have to do exactly what I say."

"Fine." Peeta says without hesitation. I'm not as quick. I know that I need Haymitch to get me through the Arena, but the last time I had a "guiding force" it did not work out too well. I feel a twinge of guilt at the thought of Nemo. I try to forget him and focus instead on Haymitch.

"Oh, alright." I give in.

"Okay. So in a few minutes, we'll be pulling into the station. You'll be put into the hands of the stylists. You're not going to like what they do to you. But no matter what it is, don't resist." He commands. I'm about to open my mouth, when he cuts me off, "No buts. Don't resist."

I grumble a little, but agree. After we've been handed over to the stylists, however, I wish I hadn't.

"Holy-AHHWWWOUUUUU_CH_." I moan, biting my lip. I'm surrounded by Lady Gaga impostors who are violently ripping the hair off my legs. Violently being the key word here.

"Sorry!" One of them pipes in a silly accent. "You're just so hairy!"

I nod hazily, a little dazed from the pain. Whoever said pain is beauty, deserves to be forced into the Hunger Games with a pack of rabid tigers chasing after them. I vent my anger into this daydream, when I'm informed that the stylist is coming. The prep team leaves, and I'm left alone in the room naked and very sore. Is now a good time to attempt escape? However, just as I survey the room for possible escape routes, the door opens and a young man who must be Cinna enters.

For someone from the Capitol, he only looks like he was slapped in the face with glitter, and not like he bathed in it.

"Hello, Katniss. I'm Cinna, your stylist." As he says this I realize I'm still naked and very self-conscious.

"Hi." I answer in an embarrassed, trying-to-keep-a-straight-face voice. He looks me up and down. I swallow nervously. I blame the media for making female body expectations unrealistic.

"Why don't you put on your robe and we'll have a chat."

"Oh thank God." I say, and quickly grab the robe. I feel much less vulnerable.

"How despicable we must seem to you." He says, locking eyes with me. I look around awkwardly.

"By we do you mean the stylists? I'm sure they have good intentions, just very _forceful_ ways of getting rid of body hair."

"No. I mean the people in the Capitol. Forcing children to fight to the death and watching for amusement."

"Well, we have a similar ritual where I'm from. It's called Toddlers and Tiaras."

"Huh?"

"It's a District 12 thing." I lie. I'm getting pretty good at this.

"No matter. So let me explain your costumes." He begins. I'm sure you're all aware of the whole District 12=coal mining=coal for fuel=burning coal=fire=Katniss wearing a bonfire. It'll certainly intimidate the other tributes. So I meet up with Peeta and we get in the chariot.

Before I have a chance to catch up with him, the music begins and the chariots start to move. The music is blaring, and it has an unnecessary amount of drums.

"So, how much body hair did they rip off you?" I joke.

"What?" He asks. He must not have heard me over the music.

"HOW MUCH BODY HAIR DID THEY RIP OFF YOU?" I say louder.

"How much _Hotty Fair?_"

"No, BODY HAIR!"

"What?"

"FORGET IT!" Stupid music makes it impossible to have a conversations. Then Cinna shows up with a giant flame, ready to light us on fire. My stomach turns.

"Uh. Cinna I'm not feeling too hot anymore."

"Don't worry, this'll fix that." He replies.

"Wait, no! That's not what I meant!" I plead, but it's too late. Suddenly I'm a human kebab.

"Do you at least have any marshmallows?" I ask. But the chariots have started to pull away. Cinna yells something, but I can't hear.

"Was that a yes?" I ask Peeta.

"What?!" He yells back. I forgot about the loud music.

"I think he wants us to hold hands!" Peeta yells, pointing at my hand.

"Alright, but this doesn't mean we're in a relationship!" I yell, but I don't think he hears me. We circle around the stadium, with Capitol people screaming and jeering. I even think I see a Go Katniss! sign. I yawn. I thought being on fire would have been more captivating. It lost its spark after the first few seconds (no pun intended). Then President Snow gives a speech, which is worse than all the awful graduation speeches I've had to sit through. Finally it ends and we get off.

"That was nerve-wracking. I was getting a little shaky there." Peeta says.

"It's fine. I'm sure no one noticed." I reply.

"I'm sure they didn't notice anyone but you. You should wear flames more often. They suit you." He says. I stare at him for a moment.

"I'm not sure how to react to that." I say. "I'm not sure if it's a threat, if you want to set me on fire, or if you're hitting on me and it's supposed to be a compliment. If so, then I will reiterate that the holding of hands means nothing."

"I did enjoy holding your hand though." He says before walking away. I'm very baffled by him, but I'm also too tired to care, so I go back to my room to take a long nap.

I'm exhausted after the tribute parade. All I want to do is take a long nap, and eat a whole gallon of rocky road ice cream. But I don't get either of those. Instead I'm forced to go to dinner where there is a lack of rocky road. The entire time Effie and Haymitch babble about strategy and sponsors or something. I blank out. I know it's supposed to be important and may save my life in the arena, but let's be honest, I'll probably screw up their advice anyway so who cares? Plus I read the books.

After the boring dinner (with no rocky road ice cream) I decide to go for a walk. I get into the elevator, only to discover that I'm only allowed to go to the roof and our floor. Defeated, I return to my room to take that nap. Unfortunately, that was also ill-fated. As soon as I close my eyes I am greeted with nightmares about the Editors, cats, and rocky road ice cream. I wake in a cold sweat. A second later Peeta runs in.

"Are you okay? Do you want me to help you fall back to sleep?" He asks.

"No! I fine. GET OUT OF MY ROOM!" I yell. As he leaves I throw a pillow at him, but miss. "AND THE HAND HOLDING MEANT NOTHING!" I add. I have a sad feeling he didn't hear me.

**I will try to post more chapters soon. I've already written some so it shouldn't be as long until the next update as last time (sorry about that again). Please review!**


	23. Chapter 23

Long story short, I get no sleep. The next morning at breakfast, Haymitch informs us that today will be our first day of training. Then I fall asleep on my pancakes. Haymitch shakes me awake.

"Focus Katniss!"

"Right sorry…" I mumble, and then eat some pancakes. I frown as I taste some of my hair on the pancake.

"I'm not that hungry."

"Great, because it's time to go." Haymitch announces, and we're shoved into the elevator. Peeta tries to make friendly conversation in the elevator. It's very awkward. We get down to the training center and all the other tributes are already there. Throwing very large, very heavy looking spears with deadly accuracy. _I probably should have listened to Haymitch._ I try to remember from the book what Katniss did exactly in the Training Center, but I can't. It's my own fault really. When I was reading the books I skipped through a lot of the beginning to get to the arena. What can I say? I'm impatient.

Then Peeta motions me over to the knot tying station. _Why not? _I join him and start trying to tie knots. It takes me about an hour to get one knot. One knot. I give up. Peeta moves on to the camouflage station. I yawn. There's no harm in resting my eyes for a few seconds. No big deal. I close my eyes and lay my head down.

A small child pokes me awake.

"Are you sleeping or playing dead?" Her voice asks timidly.

"uuuuuwwwaaaattt?" I mumble, slowly coming to my senses.

"Did you not sleep at all last night? You must be really tired. You slept for three hours." She informs me. I realize she must be Rue.

"Are you Rue?" I ask.

"Yep. I'm from District 11." She says. I nod and rub the sleepiness out of my eyes. Then my eyes shoot open.

"Wait. Did you say _three hours?"_

"Yep." She says while giggling. "You're funny."

"Do you think I could get the Careers to laugh themselves to death?" I ask. And she starts laughing some more. I like this chick. She laughs instead of giving me "the look." You all know what I'm talking about so I'm just gonna call it "the look" from now on.

So I chill with Rue for a bit. I force myself to talk to Peeta also. I nap a little too. On the third day of my routine, the Gamemakers start to individually access us. I'm ready though with my super bow skills (thank you Katniss). I figure that if that doesn't work maybe I'll use my super singing powers from Phantom to wow them (if it still works).

I'm still a little nervous when I go in. I'm last and it seems like the Gamemakers aren't paying attention anymore. I can't really blame them. I go forward and grab the bow and arrow. I take a deep breath and shoot. I get a bullseye. I smile proudly and look up at the Gamemakers. My smile falters as I see they aren't even looking. They're preoccupied with a roast pig. I'm not going to let that get to me. I ready my bow and draw the arrow. I adjust my feet, when suddenly I slip on a puddle I didn't realize was there. Before I can caught myself, I let go of the arrow, which goes flying into the Gamemakers judging area, right into their roast pig. I quickly get to my feet. _OH SHIT. I've done goofed. _I swallow and then try to revive the situation. "Thank you for your consideration." I say as gratefully as I can and then I quickly turn and retreat to the exit, too embarrassed to even wait for their dismissal.

Looking back on it, I suppose that may have come off as rebellious and unruly.

After that I brace myself as I ride the elevator up. I'm praying that somehow plot armor will save me because I'm the main character. There's a little _ding _that signals I've arrive. I swallow and put on a fake smile. As I gaze around the room, I see no one is there. I smile for real. Now if I can just get to my room and avoid them until they announce the scores I be fine…

"How'd it go, sweetheart?" I hear Haymitch jeer. I turn to find him reclining on a chair, drinking (of course).

"I thought you couldn't have alcohol in here." I reprimand him (even though I'm really just trying to change the conversation).

"It's water. To help with my hangover." He says matter-of-factly.

"Good luck with that." I turn and try to make a retreat to my bedroom. We all know that never works though.

"Not so fast. How bad was it?" He says. I turn back, defeated.

"...They'll definitely remember me."

"What. Did. You. Do."

"I may have…um…shot an arrow. At the Gamemakers." I freeze and wait for the yelling. Instead, I'm confused when Haymitch laughs.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because it's funny, sweetheart."

"Can you not call me that? It's very condescending."

"Alright sweetheart." He says and then walks away. _What?_ Okay then… That was an interesting conversation.

Later, we're all squished together on the couch waiting for the scores to come up. I don't pay attention to the other Districts. I do remember a few thing from the books, and they were that only the Careers are significant threats. Peeta gets an eight. Then my score comes up.

"Eleven." _Thank you Plot Armor. _"That's pretty good."

"Pretty good? Katniss, you do know the highest score you can get is a ten?" Peeta says. I figure now would be a bad time to mention I wasn't even _aiming _for the Gamemakers; I just slipped.

"Hm. I'm just glad I didn't get a negative number of something. I could see that happening to me." I yawn.

"I'm pretty tired. I'm a gonna go get some shut eye." I leave.

"Be ready for interviews tomorrow Katniss!" Effie squeals as I leave.

"Mhm." I mumble.

Early the next morning Effie drags me out of bed (I mean literally drags) and starts rambling about interviews. Next thing I know I'm getting stuffed into a dress. It's a little tight.

"Sorry. I guess I shouldn't have had that extra muffin."

"Don't worry. We'll get you into this dress one way or another." I frown when Effie says that.

Finally after an hour of struggling, they get the dress zipped up. I can't breathe. And I'm pretty sure I have at least two broken ribs. Then we start actually practicing for the interview. I'm not going to go into detail, but it was bad. Painful. Gory even (don't ask). I'm now traumatized and I haven't even gone into the arena yet. Then after a few more painful hours of training with Haymitch, it's time for my interview.

"Just smile." Effie says. I force a smile. She cringes. My smile disappears.

"Be yourself." Cinna says with a smile, trying to make me feel better. "And don't forget to twirl."

I try to let the advice sink in, and I walk on stage. I shake Caesar's outstretched hand, and he has the good grace not to immediately wipe his off his suit.

"So, Katniss, the Capitol must be quite a change from District Twelve. What's impressed you most since you arrived here?" Caesar asks.

"Uhh. The food." I say honestly. My stomach grumbles. I haven't eaten since his morning. Surprisely Caesar and some of the audience laughs. I feel a little better. Hopefully because I'm the protagonist they'll naturally like me. Right?

"Now Katniss, when you came out in the opening ceremonies, my heart actually stopped. What did you think of that costume?"

"Well, if it's making people's hearts _actually _stop, maybe I shouldn't have worn it." I say. Caesar and the audience laugh some more.

"But in all seriousness," I say, "it was brilliant. My costume designer, Cinna, was brilliant. It was gorgeous and I couldn't believe I was wearing it. I can't believe I'm wearing this either." I say, mainly because I was sure that we wouldn't get it on this morning. I stand and the audience _oohs _and_ ahhs. _I remember I'm supposed to twirl. Alright. I start to twirl, and the audience goes crazy. Then I step on a long piece of fabric on the trim of the dress. Before I can stop myself, I'm flailing wildly. I see myself falling face first into the audience.

Then there's a hand around my waist, and I'm pulled back. I turn to find none other than Peeta holding me.

"What?HOW?WHAT?" I grasp for words.

"I saw you falling on the screen, so I ran onstage to catch you." He answers.

"What? But makes no sense. No way could you have run all the way from the wings to the front of the stage in time to catch-"

"Shh. Shh. It's alright Katniss. Clearly you're a little dizzy from your almost accident, you'd better sit down." I glare at him, but realize Caesar and the audience are still there. I also notice an awkward breeze where there shouldn't be one. I gaze down to realize I've torn a huge gash along the back of my dress.

"Okay. Let's sit down then." I smile, while dying on the inside.

"Well I guess now is as good a time as any to start Peeta's interview. Katniss, you're welcome to stay." Caesar says. I smile, but picture impaling Peeta with one of my high heels. I'm so focused on my daydream, that I don't pay attention to their interview. I'm vaguely aware of them sniffing each other. I don't know. Then Caesar asks a question and I tune in.

"Handsome lad like you. There must be some special girl. Come one, what's her name?" says Caesar. I start to panic. I can't let Peeta answer or else I'll be stuck playing romantic interest for the rest of the book.

"Oh, it's not someone I know is it?" I ask, before Peeta can reply. "Let me guess. Was it Suzy? Barbara? Margaret?" I say. Peeta opens his mouth to reply, so I keep talking.

"Y'know Caesar, back in District Twelve, Margaret and Peeta were best buds. He used to make bread for her and she would would pick flowers for him. It was adorable. I would bet my money that if Peeta had any special girl it would be her. Let me tell you-"

"Katniss, Katniss, my goodness. Aren't you talkative tonight?" Caesar interrupts me.

"Now, Peeta," He begins. No no no. "Is she right?"

"There is this one girl. I've had a crush on her ever since I can remember. But I'm pretty sure she didn't know I was alive until the reaping."

Sound of sympathy from the crowd. Unrequited love they can relate to. All I can think of is how to stop this.

"She have another fellow?" asks Caesar.

"I don't know, but a lot of boys like her," says Peeta. _Jeeesus CCCHHrist. _This is unbearable.

"So, here's what you do. You win, you go home. She can't turn you down then, eh?" says Caesar encouragingly. I scarf. Caesar and Peeta look at me.

"Oh sorry. Just something in my throat." I lie. Peeta looks at me for a moment and then continues.

"I don't think it's going to work out. Winning…won't help in my case," says Caesar mystified. Because it's not like it was BLATANTLY obvious or anything. I'm sure he just rushed onstage to help me because he didn't want his district partner getting harmed. I can't even watch this anymore. Peeta blushes beet red and stammers out.

"Because…because… she came here with me."

"Oh goodness. But that could only mean one thing!" I say sarcastically. "I never would have guessed."

"You must be very shocked Katniss." Caesar says, completely missing my sarcasm. "You didn't know until know?" I blink. Is he kidding?

"Not until now." I continue with the sarcasm.

"Well. With that our time is up. Best of luck to you both." As we leave the crowd is deafening. I don't think they even notice that my dress is torn down the sides. I'm silent backstage, even as Haymitch, Effie, and Cinna try to talk to me. The elevator ride up, I am stone cold. When we get to our room, Peeta tries to talk to me.

"Katniss…You're not mad? Are you?" He asks. I slowly turn to face him, smiling coldly.

"Mad? Me? No…Don't be ridiculous. It's not like you made a complete and utter _fool _of me." I say, colder than when I was the Ice Queen.

"Oh thank goodness." Peeta says sighing. "I was so worrie-"

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME? OF COURSE I'M MAD YOU _IDIOT!_" I yell, completely losing my cool. "You degraded me to the status of a helpless, heartsick girl whose only purpose is to follow you around like a lovesick puppy! I have more goals in life than just trying to be your girlfriend! In case you hadn't noticed…" I stand there breathing rapidly.

"You are the fool." Haymitch says. I didn't even notice him come in, I was so angry. "He made you look desirable."

"Desirable? This is exactly the problem with today's social media. Women are only deemed valuable if they are sexy and feminine. Well, I've got news. Women are valuable, not because of their beauty or thin body, but their intellect, and creativity, and uniqueness. And that is something you cannot appreciate. But I refuse to be distorted by the unrealistic ideals of the media." I cross my arms defiantly.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Haymitch asks.

"The social injustice of our society."

"Who cares? We're forcing children to fight to the death. You really think there aren't going to be social injustices?"

"And I'm just supposed to stand by and let it happen?!" I reply angrily.

"Yes. It's all a big show. It's all about how you're perceived. How do you think you'll get more sponsors?" Haymitch says.

"He's right." Cinna agrees.

"When did you get here?!"

"When you were having a yelling fit."

"You're golden, sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block," says Haymitch. I grumble. "Come on let's eat." Haymitch says.

"I'm not hungry." My stomach growls, giving me away. "I just really tired." I say and storm away into my room. I sit on my bed and do breathing exercises and punch my pillow many times until I feel a little better. I'm so drained I try to get some sleep. You can all guess how that ended up.

Editors. Except this time I was in the area with them. Being chased. I'm in my interview dress and I can barely run. I fall on my face, ready to die. Then there's a bow and arrow in my hands, ready to fire. However, I can't bring myself to let it go. I remember the Editor lying cold and lifeless, and I remember the other Editor mocking me about it. Instead I lie helpless as an Editor shoves a knife through my heart.

After I wake up, I lay in bed and await for the Hunger Games to begin.


	24. Chapter 24

**Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've been having midterms. But anyway, chapter 24 whoooo! Song credits to Survivor's Eye of the Tiger. Thank you for being such an awesome song. And shoutouts to everyone whose kept up with this story for so long. There is officially more than 2,000 views for this story, so thank you! And now, let the Hunger Games begin!**

The next morning whirls by. Before I know it, breakfast has past, we've been flown to the arena, and it's a few second before the Games begin. Cinna appears and tries to be comforting.

"Is it too late to grab another muffin for the road?" I ask him. He laughs and gives me the mockingjay pin. It feels strange to wear, because it doesn't have any meaning for me. Not like it does for Katniss. Yet, for some reason, having it comforts me. Then Cinna takes my hand and squeezes it.

"Are you going to give me some advice for the arena?" I ask, confused about why we're holding hands before I'm about to be thrust into a bloodbath.

"No. I just want to give you moral support." He answers. I blink.

"OKAY then. Well, I'll see you on the other side. Wherever that is." I joke gruesomely. He gives my hand one last squeeze and I step into the elevator. It begins to rise.

"Ladies and gentlemen," A voice booms, "let the Seventy-fourth Hunger Games begin!"

As the elevator rises, I quickly assess the arena, even though I already know what it looks like. Forest, lake, cornucopia. Katniss chose the forest, so that's what I'm gonna do. Now let's just hope I don't fall on my face trying to get there. Suddenly the gong rings out. I'm not ready. I jump and all the other tributes have started running.

"Well shit." I leap into action to make up for the lost time. Everyone else is preoccupied with the Cornucopia. I'm a few feet away from the woods. Suddenly I trip over a dead tribute.

"Where did _that _come from?!" I yell. I stand and notice a knife is now stuck in the tree in front of me. I swear it wasn't there a moment ago. I turn to find the tribute from District 2 aiming another knife at me. Ew, Clove. I really hate this chick.

"Yikes!" I squeak. I turn to run, but instead ram straight into the tree. I fall backwards onto the ground. As I sit up I see she missed again and instead hit the tree.

"Wow. The plot armor is _working!"_ I sit up and grab the two knives stuck in the tree before escaping into the woods. I run until I'm sure no one is following me. I stop for a breather and try to figure out what to do next. My instinct is to find water. I'm about to sit up when an orange backpack falls into my lap.

"What. The…" I pick up the orange backpack. There's a spot of blood, but besides that it's good as new. I looked around but no one else was there. _What?_ I look inside the backpack. There's a sleeping bag, a pack of crackers, dried beef strips, a bottle of iodine matches, wire, sunglasses, and a plastic bottle for carrying water. It's like Christmas. But where did it come from? Hmm…Oh well.

Now that I have supplies, I start heading downhill into what I assume to be a valley. Before long the sun has set. I remember Katniss strapped herself to a tree to sleep. I try to do the same thing. It's a lot harder than you would have expected. I try using the wire, which is too small to wrap around the tree. Then I try using my belt instead. It works a little better, but I can't tie it. Finally I give up and instead just sleep without tying myself to the tree.

I have the first peaceful sleep in a while. When I awake, it's still nighttime. To my confusion there's something feathery brushing against my face. _Is that a bird?_ I move around to get out of the sleeping bag. Then I put two and two together. My suspicions are confirmed when I stretch out my wings. How did no one notice I had _wings _on my back? I'm not complaining though. Honestly, they're probably an advantage in the arena. I'm sure I can use it to escape or ambush someone or something. Although it'll have to be in an emergency because the Capitol has cameras everywhere. It's a miracle they haven't seen them yet. I'm telling ya, plot armor.

I climb down from the tree. Suddenly, I'm hit with the delicious smell of roasting meat and my mouth starts to salivate. I follow the smell. I'm surprised when nearly a hundred feet later I stumble upon a dead tribute the Careers must have killed. I cringe, and then I see the fire with a rabbit cooking over it. I feel guilty, but I wouldn't want the rabbit to go to waste. I eat it. It's a little dry, but good enough. I don't understand how I could have smelled that rabbit from so far away though. Then I realize that it must be from when I was a cat. Super smelling could be useful.

I decide to try out my newfound talent. I start sniffing for mud. Where there's mud, there's water. After a few hours of walking I find a small pond. _That wasn't so hard._ I purify the water with some iodine. I drink as much as I can, and then I fill up the plastic bottle. As I cap the bottle, I smell something burning. _Not good. _I turn to see a wall of fire descending towards me. I start running. The smoke fills my lungs. When I try to curse I start choking. I start to get ahead of the fire. Suddenly there's a _hiss_ and a fireball nearly takes my head off.

"What!?" I yell. It's almost like the Gamemakers want me to die. I dodge the fireballs while having horrifying flashbacks of the fireballs in Phantom of the Opera. This time I don't have my ice wand to help me. I keep running. I collapse as a fireball skids across my right calf. I let out a string of curses. I force myself to get up and keep running. Finally I can't take it anymore and fall onto the ground. I wait for the fire to overwhelm me. Nothing happens. I look up. The fire has stopped. Thank you, plot armor.

Just as I'm able to stand up, I hear footsteps. _Oh, come ON._ I can't outrun them at this point, so I climb up the nearest tree. The Careers and Peeta appear on the ground below my tree. They see me.

"Is it just me or do you guys smell a little burnt?" I say, mocking them. I do touch a nerve, as I see them eye their charred clothes. Then one of them steps forward and begins to climb the tree.

"Oh you're coming to keep me company? How thoughtful of you." I say, mocking him as he climbs up.

"You can do it, Cato!" One of the other Careers yells. I start laughing.

"Haha! Cato! That's one of the most ridiculous names I've ever heard." I laugh at him. I seem to distract him as he grabs a loose branch and falls. He rubs his back and says, "Glimmer, you try."

"Glimmer? Are you kidding me? That's even _worse_ than Cato." As I say this, she snarls and starts to climb.

"Who comes up with these names? It's almost like they're purposely bad." Glimmer gets distracted and then falls. When she's on the ground, she pulls out a bow and arrow. My eyes light up. That could be useful. She tries to shoot me but misses.

"Whoever named you must also have taught you how to shoot!" I'm having too much fun with this. I barely even notice my burnt calf anymore.

"Oh, let her stay up there. It's not like she's going anywhere." Peeta says, "We'll deal with her in the morning."

The Careers make camp below my tree. I sigh. As I look up I'm startled to see Rue staring at me.

"Ah!" I gasp. I cover my mouth and look down. The Careers didn't hear me. I stare at Rue. She points to something above my head. I look up to see a wasp nest. My face drains of all color. I look back to Rue, but she's gone. I remember Katniss's plan to cut the wasp nest so it falls on the Careers. I decide to try it. The worst that could happen is I fall to the ground, get stung by bees tracker jackers and then either die from the venom or the Careers. Or both. That's worst case scenario.

I decide to wait until dawn to start. While I'm waiting, a small parachute lands on a nearby branch. Attached to it is a silver pot, and inside that is ointment. I rub it over my calf, and the relief is instantaneous.

"YASS Haymitch." I say. Now I wait until dawn.

The next morning the Careers are all sleeping, except for Glimmer who is keeping watch. She's not looking at me, so I start to saw. As I'm close to being done, the bees tracker jackers start to wake up. I start to saw quicker. A pain in my knee lets me know that I've gotten stung. I jump in surprise as I cut through the branch. The nest fall to the ground as the bees tracker jackers swarm around the Careers. A few stragglers sting me as I climb down and make a run for it. I hear the Careers yelling and running in frantic circles. I start to run too, but I'm woozy from the stings. Finally I make it back to the little pool and submerged myself in the water.

That's when the hallucinations started. At first I'm convinced the Editors towering above me were real. One of them starts to strangle me, and then he just melts away. That's right. _Melts away._ By then I'm aware it's a hallucination. It's still horrifying. The Phantom and Raoul are there, Valentine and Jace, Blue Star, Fang, and Aslan. I even hallucinate that Nemo is here. That's a random hallucination.

After I awaken from the delirium, the stings have swollen a little. I gaze around. The bow and arrows that Glimmer had are lying next to me. I must have grabbed them and forgotten about it during my hallucinations. I give myself a pat on the back for being so smart. I drink some water to hydrate myself. Then I get up, stretch, and try to hunt for a bit. It's hard, even with Katniss's skills. It takes me about twelve tries before I hit a rabbit. I immediately feel guilty afterwards. I can barely eat the rabbit. Barely.

I'm in the middle of eating the rabbit (which needed a LOT of salt) when I look up to see Rue staring at me.

"Ah!" I yell, dropping the rabbit. "Don't sneak up on me like that." I say, clutching my pounding heart.

"Sorry." She says. She looks down at the fallen chicken.

"Don't worry. It needed salt anyway." I explain. I hear her stomach growl. "Oh…I think I have some crackers if you want." I hand her some crackers. She stuffs them into her mouth. Then she pulls out some leaves.

"Uh. I'm not that hungry." I say.

"No, no, no. They're for your stings." She explains.

"Oh." She applies the leaves onto my stings. It doesn't do anything at first, but after a while the pain starts to ease.

"So, you really know how to climb around those trees. You're like a flying squirrel." I say.

"You're pretty good too. You climbed up that tree so fast, I could've sworn you had wings." She says with a giggle.

"What? That's insane. Why would I have wings? That's not even possible. Did someone say I had wings? Did you _see anything?_ What do you know?" I ask urgently. I grip her shoulders and shake her back and forth. She giggles.

"Haha. I have no idea what you're talking about." She says. I put her down. We stare at each other for a bit.

"Soo…" I begin. "You? Me? Allies?"

"Okay." So we share our supplies. Rue informs me that the Careers are camped by the lake and have an excess of food. My throat feels dry. I know in the book Rue dies trying to help Katniss destroy the Careers' supplies. I could go along with the plan and have her die, but not have my cover blown…or I could do something else.

"It's almost nighttime." I say, "We should find a tree." After we climb up and situate ourselves, I notice she only has a jacket.

"Do you want to share the sleeping bag? We should both be able to fit." I say. So she snuggles up next to me. She is soooo cute. I resist the urge to squeeze her. We fall asleep like that.

The next morning we talk while hunting. I ask Rue what her favorite thing is, and she replies, "Music."

"Music?"

"Yeh. We sing at home. At work, too. That's why I love your pin," she says, pointing to the mockingjay pin that I've completely forgotten about.

"Oh thanks."

"We use mockingjays to send messages. There's a special little song I do." She says, and then sings a four-note run in a sweet, clear voice.

"Oh that was beautiful." I say, honestly impressed.

"Do you sing at all?" She asks.

"Me?" I gasp, having flashbacks to the Phantom of the Opera. "I guess a little bit."

"Will you sing for me?" She asks. Oh. I should have said no. What should I even sing? I start singing the first song that pops into my head.

"_Rising up. Back on the street. Did my time. Took my chances. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet. Just a man and his will to survive! It's. The. Eye of the Tiger, It's the thrill of the fight. Rising UP to the challenge of our riiivaaaal. And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night. And he's watching us all with the eeeeeeeeyyyyyeeeee! Of the Tiiigeeerrr."_ I sing. I didn't even notice that I had started pretending the arrow in my hand was a microphone. I look up to see Rue laughing hysterically.

"That was fantastic." She manages, though fits of giggles.

"Thank you." I say, and take a bow.

"Is it from your District?" She asks.

"You could say that…"

"It's very beautiful. You're a very good singer." She says. I laugh because she doesn't know the half of it.

"Thanks." I say.

"So, what's this plan you told me about?" She asks.

"Alright." I begin. "So we make a few fires to lure the Careers out. While one of us is doing that, the other destroys the food."

"Okay. Sounds simple. I guess I'll be the one to light the fire?" She asks.

"NO!" I yell. She jumps. I calm myself. "Um. No. I'll light the fires."

"But how will I destroy the food reserves?" Rue asks. Hm. I didn't get this far in my plan.

"Well. Maybe you could…Hm…Maybe you could…throw some rocks at it?" I suggest, aware of how bad an idea that is.

"Rocks?"

"Okay. Nevermind. Give me a second, let me think." I pace for a bit, then remember something from the book. "The Redhead chick!"

"What?"

"The Redhead chick! She knows how to get into the Career camp and out. We should ally ourselves with her." I say. Rue looks hesitant.

"Can we trust her?" Rue asks.

"Probably not. But we don't need to trust her for that long, just long enough to take out the Careers, and then we're good." I say. Rue thinks about this for a while.

"Okay." So we head to the Career camp and wait for her to appear. It's nearly late afternoon when she does. The Careers don't even notice her sneak in and out of their camp, stealing food. I catch her scent (thank you super kitty-smelling powers), and then motion for Rue to follow me. We follow the scent for a while, until we come upon a small pond.

"Hm. The scent ends here, but I don't see her anywhere." I say to Rue. We turn to leave, when there's a flash of red, and the redhead chick has a knife to our backs.

"So, you thought you could just follow me to my hideout and kill me, huh? Sorry to disappoint." She hisses.

"NONONONNONONONONOOOO." I shout, just as the knife cuts into my back a little. She pauses.

"We're here because we want you as an _ally_." I say. She steps back.

"What?"

"We want you as an ally. You know the way around the Careers' camp. And we want to take them out." I explain. She narrows her eyes.

"Let's say I do believe you, how are you planning on doing this?" She asks.

"We still need to work out a bit of the details, but we plan on drawing out the Careers and then destroying their supplies. Only, we don't know their camp."

"What happens after we take out their camp?" She asks.

"We go our separate ways. Try to avoid the Careers. But this time, the Careers will be in the same position as the rest of us. Starving." I end dramatically. I wait for her to respond.

"Fine."

"Really?" I ask, excitedly.

"Yeah. But no promises about anything after we're done."

"Fine. Fine. That's GREAT."

"What you need to know about their camp is that they got that District 3 kid to rewire the mines to protect their food. If you could make the mines go off, without dying or letting them see you, you can destroy their food." She says.

"Alright. Would an arrow work?" I ask.

"Probably not." She says.

"Okay, what if you snuck in there, placed some rocks precariously on top of the food, and then I hit them with my arrows and they'll fall and set off the mines?" I suggest. She raises her eyebrow. Well, _someone's _sassy today.

"Fine. How about _you_ come up with something better?" I say, putting my hand on my hip. Then Rue pipes up.

"What about these?" She asks, and holds up a handful of berries.

"I don't think those are heavy enough to activate the mines." I say. She shakes her head.

"No. These are called nightlock and they're poisonous. They look just like the berries the Careers have. What if we put these into the Careers' food, and wait for them to die?"

"Hm. That's actually…genius!" I say.

"I like it." The redhead says. "So I'll just slip these into the Careers stash?"

"Great. Let's do this." The redhead and Rue start to leave.

"Wait! We need a team name." I plead.

"But we're not really a team." The redhead says, rolling her eyes.

"Oh come on. Have some pride in your team! We're going to take out the Careers! Plus having a team name is great for publicity. You can put it on t-shirts, bracelets, anything! It'll be great, and I bet it'll get you a ton of sponsors." I say. Rue looks excited, but the redhead looks a little hesitant still. I let her think about it for a second.

"Oh, alright. Just nothing _too_ ridiculous." She says. I fist pump the air.

"Okay, how about Team Underdog?" I suggest.

"Oh my god…" The redhead says while facepalming.

"Team Nightshade?"

"It's Nightlock." Rue corrects me.

"Alright, Team Nightlock? Team Girl Power? Team Berries? The Berry Buddies? The Three Musketeers? The Three Stooges? Oooo, how about the Bow and Arrows? Haha. See what I did there?" I say. The redhead still looks disgusted.

"How about the Mockingjays?" Rue says.

"Aww. That's adorable!" I squeal.

"That's pretty good, I guess. Better than any _you _were suggesting." The redhead says. I ignore her.

"Okay. So we're agreed. Ready? GO MOCKINGJAYS!" I say.

**I hope you enjoyed it:) I promise I'll update really soon. I've already written the next chapter. And please keep reviewing because they make my day!**


	25. Chapter 25

**Thanks for all the great reviews from everyone! They make me so happy:) I really hope you all enjoy this chapter. I'd like to give credit to Whitney Housten for her fantastic song I Will Always Love You. Enjoy!**

Everything is going great. The Careers are out looking for tributes to take down, while the redhead chick is switching out the real berries with the poisonous ones. I actually think my plan may succeed this time. My suspicions are confirmed when the redhead chick returns, carrying a hand full of berries in her hand. She plucks a few out and pops them in her mouth.

"Great! Now that phase one is complete, we should skedaddle before the Careers get back here."

"Phase one?" The redhead asks, still eating berries. "Since when do we have a phase one? For that matter, what's phase two?"

"We can get into the logistics of it later, for now we should…" My eyes fall down to the berries in her hand. "You _did _switch out the original berries with poisonous ones? Right? The Nightshade ones?"

"It's nightlock." Rue corrects me.

"Right. That's what I said."

"No. You said night_shade_."

"Look would you two quit arguing? We've got to-" The redhead begins and then stops. She looks concerned for a moment. She opens her mouth. Rue and I don't say anything, but wait for her to speak. Her face goes pale, and as silent as when she snuck into the Careers' camp, she falls backward to the ground. Rue and I exchange glances before rushing to her. I feel her pulse, or rather her _lack thereof_.

"Shit…" Is all I can manage. I look to Rue.

"She must have somehow confused the berries and accidentally taken some of the poisonous ones." Rue suggests.

"What are we going to do? She just _died_. Right in front of us." I say with a shudder. I think I'm going to lose my breakfast.

"Katniss, everyone's dying. We're in the _Hunger Games._"

"But she _died. Right in front of us._ What are we supposed to do? How do we keep going after that? How do we stay sane? I'm never signed up for this! What-" Rue slaps me across the face. I stop talking, too shocked to say anything.

"Pull yourself together. She died. This means that the Careers aren't going to die. We need a backup plan. _Now._" The intensity of Rue's voice intimidates me. Who knew such a cute person could be so horrifying?

"Yeah. Alright." I squeak out. I put my thinking cap on. "We should go back to our original plan of destroying all their reserves…But how?" I pace back and forth, aware that time is running out. Suddenly, I hear footsteps through the woods.

"We're out of time." Rue says. I hear the worry in her voice. We don't have time to run for it. Instead I point up to the tree and signal Rue to stay silent. We climb up. Then I rummage through my backpack looking for anything that might be useful. I pick up the rope. I look at my arrows. I look down at the pyramid.

"Rue." I whisper. "I have an overly complicated plan that involves us weaving a basket, then we build a miniature deer made of wood, and then tie the deer to that tree over there. We also need to construct a costume made of yellow feathers and purple fun fur. That is _essential_. Then we-"

"Katniss, I have a better idea." Rue says, then holds up a stone she carried with her from the ground. Before I can ask, she throws the stone onto the ground below the pyramid of food. It explodes in a fiery inferno of wood, dirt, and trail mix. Rue and I are blown back from the tree. I hit the ground and the breath is knocked out of me.

"That. _*cough*_ works too…" I manage, before putting my head back down to catch my breath. I sit up with a shock as I hear a scream that sounds like Rue's. I sprint towards the noise.

"Rue? RUE?" I can't seem to find her, then I spot her. She's been impaled by one of the tributes. I shoot instantly at the attacker. My arrow hits its target and he dies instantaneously. I try to say something but my voice has disappeared. Finally, words come.

"This-this was not supposed to happen." I immediately regret saying it. At a moment like this, I can't even force myself to try to be comforting? I just say the first stupid thing that pops into my head. But what does a person even say in a situation like this? Thank god Rue holds her hand out. I take it.

"Was the food blown up?" She whispers.

"Every last bit." I say.

"You have to win." She says.

"You bet your Grandma's gravy I will. For both of us." I reply.

"Will my Grandmother's gravy help you win?" She asks.

"I'll take anything I can get." I joke. And then mentally punch myself because Rue starts to laugh and then her face contorts in agony.

"Don't go." She says.

"I'm not. I'm staying right here." I say.

"Sing." She asks. I cringe. But how can I say no to someone's dying request? I sing the first song that comes to mind. I really hate myself right now.

_"__If I should stay…Well, I would only be in yoooour waaaaay." _Dear lord. Why did I chose this song?

_"__And so I'll gooOOoo. And yet Iee know, that I'll think of you every step of the waaAAAaayy." _I'm so sorry Rue. But _damn_ this song is just so great.

_"__And IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIeeeIIIIIIIIIIIIII will always LOOOOOOVE yououooooooooo. I will always love yoooooooooooouuouuo. Yoooooouu. My darling youuu. Youou." _I take a breath and keep going.

_"__Bitter-sweet memories. That is all I'm taking with meeeeeee. So Good-byyyeiiie, please don't cry…We both know I'm not what you need-eeeeed. AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEIII WILL ALWAYS LOOVE YOOOOOUOUOUUOU. IIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOYOUUUUUUU! _Saxophone solo!" I yell and start pantomiming playing a saxophone and making noises.

_"__And I hope liiiiiife, will treat you kiiiiind."_ Wow. This is really offensive to Rue who's dying on the ground. But I can't just stop singing. I'm too far into the song. I have to keep going.

_"__And I hope that you have all you dreamed oooooof. And I wish yoou JOY! And HAppineeeEEss, but above all this I wish yooou looooOOOooove. AND IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII WILL ALWAYS LOOOOOOOOVE YOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooOOOOOOooooOooooOOOOOO!" _I feel a little tap on my arm. I stop singing and kneel down next to Rue. Suddenly everything is silent. I feel the need to continue singing, if only to break the uncomfortable silence. I force myself to stay silent.

Then, almost eerily, the mockingjays take up my song. I squeeze Rue's hand. I see a tear drop fall on her small palm that's now cold to the touch. I pause. Surely, that can't be _my _tear. I push that thought away. Rue's cannon fires. I sit there for a few minutes.

"I've failed you Rue. I'm…" I can't even bring myself to say I'm sorry. Rue deserves so much more than this. Only Whitney Houston could sum up this situation. "I will always love you."

I slowly uncurl my fingers from hers and back away. I pause a few feet away though. I gaze at the patch of wild flowers. When I read the books, I always thought it was cheesy how Katniss wreathed Rue in the flowers, but now I understand why she did it. It feels like the only appropriate way to mourn Rue.

Slowly, one stem at a time, I decorate her body in flowers. Covering the ugly wound. Wreathing her face. Weaving her hair with bright colors.

By then tears are just pouring from my face. I'm not ashamed to say I cried loudly like a three year old whose ice cream just fell on the ground. It's nearly impossible to hear the mockingjays singing in the background. I stare at Rue for a few moments in that meadow. It scares me how it looks like she's only sleeping. I hope she's dreaming of a better world than this one.

I jump back suddenly as Rue's face is replaced for an instant with the face of the Editor I killed. I stare in horror at it, and then realize I just imagined it. But my heart is racing. This is all too much. I turn and leave. I hurry away, still clutching one of the flowers. I realize that I'm rubbing the petals between my fingers. I can't figure out why I'm doing it, but it feels so natural. Is this something normal people do? No I don't think so. Maybe it's just a habit that I have. Too bad I can't remember…

All of this is too much. Rue's death is hard enough, and then that image of the Editor. I'm going to be honest here, it really horrified me. I'm really convinced that I'm going insane. As my nerves rise, I start to rub the petal harder. The friction is too much for it, I get so worked up, and I rip the petal in half. I stare at it, and an anger rises in my throat. I refuse to let Rue just die. I refuse to let the story keep going. I'm taking control of this story.

I draw my bow and start sprinting towards the Careers' camp. Someone will pay for Rue's death (in addition to that random tribute who no one cares about). By the time I get there, I'm convinced that there's steam coming out of my ears I'm so angry. I rip through the trees into the camp. I get a satisfaction at seeing the remains of the explosion. I hear a rustle from behind me. It must be Cato. I still have some fighting skills from Maximum Ride and I intend to use them. I turn and kick Cato in the stomach. He drops the knife he was ready to stab into my back. I pick it up and punch him across the face. I take my bow and hit it against his head. He falls to the ground. I knee him in his gut, and then pin him to the ground. I raise the knife.

We sit there for a few moments, both breathing heavily. Never of us are sure if I'll actually drive the knife through his chest. My hand starts to shake. Then I make the mistake of looking into his eyes. I didn't see any hatred, or sadness, or even fear. All I saw was confusion. Like he didn't know who he was looking at. Was this murderer the same girl that came into the arena?

I drop the knife. I can't do this. Yes I killed the Editor and yes I killed that random tribute extra that was only included in the story because Katniss needed someone expendable to kill and I can't bring either of them back, and I failed Rue because I couldn't save her…but I can't kill Cato. I can't kill anyone else. I'm just not capable of it. Maybe I'm a coward but I won't lose myself. I'm not going to let my rage blur my vision.

I quickly get up and start to run away. Cato doesn't follow me. I just keep running. I decide I'm going to run as far as I can run, and then run some more. The running makes me feel a little better. It feels as if all my worries and mistakes are being lost in the wind. A small weight is lifted, but a weight nonetheless. My meditative running is interrupted when I trip over a log.

"Ouch." I hear. But I didn't say it. I sit up, but no one's there.

"Hello?"

"It's me, Peeta." I hear. I realize with a start that the log is talking. And the log is Peeta. Some of his camouflage rubbed off onto my leg when I tripped. I lick it.

"Is this _frosting?_" I ask.

"Yes. I used to decorate the cakes at the bakery." Peeta explains.

"So you camouflaged yourself…with frosting. Alright." I say, moving on. Making a joke about this is just too easy, it's not fair. Before I even could make a joke, one of the announcers is saying something about a rule change.

"Did you hear that Katniss? There can be two victors!" Peeta says.

"Yep." I answer.

"Katniss…Did you somehow know this would happen? You being here, and sounding so nonchalant when they announced it." Peeta says. Shit. He's onto me. I put on my best poker face.

"What? That's ridiculous Peeta. Your wound must be making you delirious." I say. Peeta looks confused.

"How did you know I was wounded?" Peeta asks. My poker face breaks a little, but I try to stay strong. I swallow.

"Hm?" I ask. Maybe I can play this off as if I didn't hear him.

"How did you know I was wounded if-" He begins but I cut him off.

"Wow! Would you look at the time? We should probably get some shelter in that conveniently located cave that's right there." I say, pointing to the cave. I help Peeta to his feet and we stumble over.

After we get into the cave, I have to tend to Peeta's wounds. Unfortunately I have no experience or idea how to do that.

"Let's take a look at that wound." I say. Peeta starts to take his pants off.

"_What _are you doing?" I ask.

"The cut is on my leg." He explains. Oh god. I really don't want to have to do this. I pull out a knife.

"I guess we'll have to amputate it." I say. Peeta looks horrified.

"WHAT?"

"Naw. I'm just messing with you. I'm just going to cut off some of your pants to get to the cut." I say. Peeta looks relieved. I cut a circle around the wound. What next?

"Hm. Maybe if we pour some water on it?" I ask. Peeta looks concerned.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

"Of course. I'm a professional."

"Really?"

"No. But I've always wanted to say that." I dig through my bag and pull out some burn ointment. It certainly can't make his wound any worse. I start rubbing it on his wound. He cringes. His wound starts to pus.

"Ewww." I say. Then I look up at Peeta. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright. Katniss, if I don't make it…"

"I cannot believe we're having this conversation." I say. "Whenever anyone says that, they die. Unless someone interrupts them halfway through, like I'm doing now. So you're welcome."

Peeta bites his lips as his wound continues to pus. Then he gives me puppy dog eyes.

"I wish there was something to take my mind off the pain." He says.

"Hm… We could play I Spy." I suggest.

"That's not what I meant."

"20 questions?" I ask. This kid has high standards.

"I mean…" He trails off. He rolls his eyes.

"I don't understand what you're trying to tell me. Are you hungry? Do you want me to leave?" I ask, trying to figure out what he's trying to say.

"No. I don't want you to go. I want the opposite…" He says. I stare at him. What on earth could that even mean? Oh wait…

"No." I say frankly.

"But-" He begins. I raise my hand. Peeta stops talking.

"I am not going to conform myself to the pressure from society to be in a romance. I'm not going to give the Capitol what it wants. I'm not going to subject myself to that. If they want a romance maybe they should watch a crappy romcom instead of a battle between children to the death. What were they expecting?"

"But the sponsors." Peeta complains.

"Screw the sponsors. I'd rather Haymitch take the money and send it to the starving children in the districts." I cross my arms defiantly. Then I hear a parachute outside. Inside I find a note from Haymitch. It reads, _Do it._ I frown.

"No." I say, and rip the paper in half. A few seconds after another parachute floats down. _Just one peck on the cheek._

"No! I'm not going to abandon my principles just to please the Capitol." I say. Another parachute._ Peeta's going to die._ Hm...I think about that for a moment. Yes, Peeta's wound is very bad, but he's also a main character. He can't die…then again, I am gambling with his life. I owe it to Rue to not let Peeta die.

"Hmph. ONE peck. And don't expect anything else. And it better be really good medicine." I say. I force myself to turn and head back into the cave.

"Ka-" Peeta begins. I look at him, and he stops talking.

"_One_ peck on the cheek. And this means nothing." I say. I pucker my lips and leaned in close. Then I freak out and retreat.

"Okay. I can do this. I just need a moment." I tell myself it's the same as kissing that aunt that always comes over for Christmas and smells like dead flowers (not that I can actually remember anything about Christmas). I get that image in my mind, but it only makes things worse. I shiver. Come on. I can do this. Do it for Rue! I pucker up, count to ten, and then give Peeta a quick kiss on the cheek.

"That wasn't too hard." I say with a smile.

"That's it?"

"Be grateful I didn't abandon you to fend for yourself with only your whipped cream camouflage."

"Actually, it's frosting."

"Same difference."

"Not really, they're completely-"

"We are not going to have a debate over cake toppings." I say. I start to leave. "I'm going to go get the parachute."

I'm very disappointed. I was expecting some live-saving medicine and what does Haymitch send me? Broth. Yeah. Not even like chicken soup or something a little more filling. No. Broth. Plain broth. Needless to say I'm pissed.

I feed Peeta his broth (not live-saving medicine), and accidentally spill some of it all over his shirt.

"Oh jeez."

"It's okay." Peeta says, laughing.

"I'd hate to waste the soup that I went through so much trouble to get." I say. Peeta laughs.

"Thanks for helping me." Peeta says. "You should have the rest of the soup."

"It's a very kind offer, but I abandoned my principles to get you this soup and sohelpmegod you will eat it all and you will enjoy it." I say, maybe a little too forcefully. Peeta looks scared and starts sipping his soup. Then he stops and stares at me.

"Oh God, do I have a pimple?" I ask.

"No. No. You've got a flower in your hair." He says. His hand reaches out gently.

"Whoa whoa whoa." I recoil. "No touchy facy. Or hair. Got it?" I say. Peeta nods. I pick the flower from my hair. It's one of the flowers that I decorated Rue with. How on earth did it stay in my hair this entire time?

"Why are you rubbing it?" Peeta asks me. I hadn't even realized I was doing it again.

"I don't know. It's just something that I do." I answer.

"Is it a habit from when you were little?" Peeta asks.

"No. Well, maybe? It's…complicated. Jeez, that was cliché. Just ignor me." Peeta laughs at me.

"Well, it's certainly unique." He says.

"Yep. Me and my weirdness are one of a kind." I say. Peeta smiles and then yawns.

"You should go to sleep." I say.

"So should you." He says.

"Fair enough." I say. But then I remember the nightmares. I'm really not in the mood for that, so I'll just keep watch instead. I watch Peeta fall asleep and his breathing slows down. I sit there rubbing the flower and try not to think about Rue or the Editors or Cato or the expendable tribute or Peeta or anything. Of course it doesn't work. Eventually I fall asleep. Strangely enough, I don't have any nightmares. I also don't have any dreams. I don't dream about anything.

After I wake up, I inspect Peeta's wound. It's worse than before. I smile so he doesn't worry, but he can see through it. Looks like Haymitch's broth did nothing (not that I'm surprised). There's only one way I'll be able to save Peeta. That's the feast at the Cornucopia.

Of course, just as Claudius announces it, Peeta says, "No."

"You have no control over me. I'm a strong independent woman and I can do whatever I want."

"I won't let you risk your life for me."

"Too bad it's not your decision. I'm going and you can't stop me. So deal, because I'm not going to let you die. Plus I have plot armor." I say.

"What?"

"I have a good shot." I correct myself. I really need to watch what I say.

"Katniss. If you go, I will drag myself out of this cave and scream until someone comes and kills me." Peeta threatens. I raise my eyebrow.

"And if you do that I will personally resurrect you from the grave to kill you again." I retort. Peeta is being really stubborn, but he gives in after we glare at each other for ten minutes.


	26. Chapter 26

**CHAPTER 26! I want to thank everyone who has kept up with this fanfic for so many chapters! It's getting towards the end :'(. But the last books are gonna be so much fun! I'm so excited! Anyway, enjoy this chapter!**

The morning of the feast, I head to the Cornucopia. At first I think I'm in the wrong location, then a table raises up from the ground. I scoff.

"Overdramatic much?" On the table sit backpacks with District numbers on them. _2, 11, 12_. I ready my bow. I quickly glance around to be sure no one else is here yet. Looks safe. I sprint towards the table. A knife whizzes past my head. _Shit._ I shoot a bow at Clove, the chick from 2. I hit her in her left arm. It's not her throwing arm, but it does slow her down. I have just enough time to grab my backpack.

As I turn a knife slashes across my eyebrow. Blood starts to gush, blurring my vision.

"_Bitch._" I curse as I wipe some of it off. "This just got personal."

She was probably expecting me to shoot an arrow or something. That would be logical. But my anger is irrational and instead I grab her backpack that's lying on the table behind me. I swing it around and whack her across her head. She stumbles back, off balance.

"You chose the wrong girl to piss off." I say angrily. Clove smiles. But before she can pick up one of her knives, I ram myself into her. She probably wasn't expecting that. I take advantage of her surprise, and shove her to the ground. She's dropped one of her knives. I pick it up. Then I turn it upside down and hit her across the head with the butt of the knife. The expression on Clove's face is a mixture of confusion and fear.

"This is for Rue you little shit." I say, while hitting her once again on the head with the butt of the knife. It works and Clove lies there, unconscious but not dead. I spit some blood from my mouth and take my backpack and Clove's. I hate to condone violence, but it feels really satisfying. I hate that chick.

Then I see Thresh standing at the edge of the tall grass. He just nods at me. He's letting me go. I give him a thumbs up and then run into the forest. It was stupid to take Cato's backpack. He'll probably come running after me. I don't care though because nothing will bring me more joy than dropping that backpack into the nearest steam. Or burning it. Or feeding it to a lion. Or dropping it into a wormhole. The possibilities are endless.

"Katniss!" Peeta greets me as I enter the cave. "Is that Cato's backpack?!"

"Maybe. I was thinking we could use it for firewood? But look, I also got the medicine!" I say, holding up a needle. I stick it into Peeta's arm.

"See, that wasn't so bad." I tell him. Why do I feel dizzy?

"Katniss, you're bleeding." Peeta says, sounding concerned. I laugh because he's the one who's dying. Then I pass out from blood loss.

"Katniss."

"Uhh…No more ice-cream. STOP! You need to get the monkeys..the monkeys…" I mumble. Strong arms shake me awake. "AH!"

"Katniss. You were dreaming. Are you alright?" Peeta says, staring deeply into my eyes. It makes me uncomfortable.

"Yeah. Just a weird dream. With monkeys…" I shiver. "What happened?"

"You passed out from blood loss." Peeta says. As I sit up, I notice I was sleeping in a pool of blood.

"Hm…Wait! Peeta, you're alive!" I exclaim.

"Whatever you did worked. The swelling has gone down a lot." Peeta says.

"That's good to hear. Hopefully we'll be able to take on Cato soon." I say.

"And what are we going to do about Thresh?" Peeta asks. I don't say anything. In all honesty, I was just going to let him die like he did in the book (aka getting horribly ripped to shreds by werewolves/deadtribute mutation thingies). Then I start thinking about how he let me live, and how I let Rue die.

"Maybe we could…team up?" I ask. Peeta looks at me like I'm insane.

"Katniss, team up in the final four? He'll turn on us as soon as Cato's dead."

"Fine. Okay, you're right." I say. Yet I keep thinking about it.

"So, we take Cato out. Shouldn't be too hard. There's two of us and only one of him." I comment. Plus because I'm Katniss I have the benefit of plot armor, and wings.

"We could make a fire." Peeta says.

"Yeah. And lure Cato in. And kill him. And I know just where to do it." I say, with a mischievous smile.

I start to get nervous as we wander through the woods. I hope this plan works better than my last one.

"Why are we going to the tall grass?" Peeta asks.

"Because I know the best spot where we can ambush Cato." I lie.

"I think here would be just as good a place." Peeta complains. He falls behind a little bit, because of his bad leg. I wait for him.

Then, I feel someone tap me on the shoulder. I spin around, bow and arrow ready. But no one's there. I stare for a moment and then lower my bow.

"That was weird." I comment. Then I notice some nightlock berries at my feet. I pick them up. "These could be helpful."

"Can I have one?" Peeta asks once he's caught up to me.

"No. They're poisonous." I explain. "They could be useful though."

"Whatever. Katniss, are we almost there?"

"Yes." I say. But I'm a little worried. It's almost nightfall. By the time we get to the tall grass, it's after sunset.

"So, where is this place Katniss?" Peeta asks.

"Uhh. Nearby. Right around here somewhere." I lie.

"Why are you lying?"

"I'm not lying!"

"You're such a bad liar."

"I am-"

"What are you doing here?" A third voice interrupts us. Peeta and I turn to see Thresh holding a rock. He's ready to kill both of us.

"Please don't hurt us! Let me just explain." I start. Peeta turns to me, looking betrayed.

"Katniss, why did you lead us here?" He asks.

"Look, we need to head to the Cornucopia. Now. All three of us." I say urgently.

"Why do you expect me to fall for such a foolish trap?" Thresh asks.

"It's not a trap. You saved me. Now it's my turn to save you." I tell him. I notice the moon has risen.

"I let you go because you tried to save Rue. We were even." Thresh says.

"Enough! Will you two start heading to the Cornucopia?!" I yell. Thresh is ready to throw the rock, when there's a sickening growl from in the darkness. He stops.

"I told you, now will you _start running?"_ I yell. Thresh and Peeta take off. I run after them. We get out of the tall grass, as I hear the sound of running feet behind me. I'm out of breath, but I keep running. All I can think about is getting to that Cornucopia. Something snaps at me, and just misses my leg. I just keep running. I see Thresh has reached the Cornucopia and has climbed up to safety. I reach him, and he helps me up. Then my stomach drops.

"Peeta!" I yell at him. He's still a few feet from the Cornucopia and the muttations are gaining on him. He's not going to make it. Without hesitating (for once) I unfurl my wings and take off. I don't register the shock on Peeta's face as I grab him and pull him up away from the mutts.

"K-Katniss. You have w-w-w" I ignore him and land with a thud onto the Cornucopia. It's a messy landing. I roll to absorb the shock. When I look up, I'm met with three pairs of eyes staring at me. Cato, Thresh, and Peeta are dead silent. Only the mutts barking below make any noise.

"Well…This is awkward." I say with a smile, trying to break the tension. They just continue to stare.

"Don't tell me you've never seen wings before? It's not that uncommon." I say.

"Normal people don't have wings." Cato says. I glare at him.

"So maybe most normal people don't have wings. I would say at least 5% of the population has wings." I point out.

"I don't actually think that's correct-"

"YES. FINE. I HAVE WINGS AND AM A COMPLETE FREAK OF NATURE. CAN WE GET OVER IT?" I beg. Then I notice the mutts retreating. Everyone else is too busy trying to comprehend my wings.

"Wings…like feather wings?" Cato asks. I ignore him.

"Why are the mutts retreating? Four of us are still alive." I say. Something is wrong here.

"Katniss, you should have told me…" Peeta says.

"Not right now. We need to get out of here." I command. I have a bad feeling about this. My feeling is explained when hovercrafts appear. They start to head towards us.

"Time to leave." I say.

"Katniss, the Capitol!" Peeta warns. "They'll want your wings."

"Yes. But unfortunately for them, I'm not going to come that easily." I say. I aim my bow for the engine of the nearest hovercraft. I really hope this works. I let loose the arrow and it flies to the engine, perfectly taking it out. The hovercraft explodes in a fury ball.

"Holy-. I didn't think that would actually work." I ready another arrow. I take down another hovercraft. I aim for my third. Then I see a well-aimed net coming right at me. Suddenly someone shoves into me. I'm knocked off my feet, and I completely fall off the Cornucopia. Both me and my assailant land with a thud. The breath is knocked out of me.

I look up to see Cato, picking up one of the spears in the Cornucopia. I reach for an arrow, but I see they've fallen a few feet away. I don't have time to get them. Then, to my amazement, Cato throws the spear at an oncoming hovercraft. My mouth drops open. It hits the engine and the craft goes down. That means Cato just saved my life by knocking me out of the way of the net, and by stopping that hovercraft. I stand for a moment with my mouth a jar. Soon Thresh has joined him.

I come back to my senses to help. But I realize there's no way the four of us will be able to fend off the entire Capitol. We need to get out of here. But how?

Wait. We're surrounded by hovercrafts and I have wings. I'm an idiot.

I take off towards a still functioning hovercraft. There are two pilots inside. I realize I left my arrows outside. _Idiot. _Instead I take the berries and start throwing them at the pilots. I get one of the pilots in the eye. It gives me enough time to take him out. The other one slips on some berry juice. He hits his head on the ground and is unconscious. I look at the berries. I didn't think I would end up using them like that.

I land the hovercraft. I wave at Peeta from the inside. He waves back at me, amazed. Cato, Thresh, and Peeta run inside.

"You know how to pilot this?" Thresh asks.

"It's just like in Mario Kart."

"What?"

"She says stuff like that." Peeta explains. "You get used to it." I laugh at that.

Then we take off. Luckily, they were nice enough to leave the hatch that lets the hovercrafts into the arena open. We fly through it, and we're outside. We fight through some other hovercrafts, but there aren't that many. It seems the Capitol wasn't expecting a full-fledged escape from the arena till the sequel, Catching Fire.

"Everyone, take out your trackers." I command. I grab a knife, and cut mine out. Everyone else follows suit.

"Katniss, where are we going?" Peeta asks.

"District 13." I say.

"What?"

"District 13. It wasn't destroyed. And we're not supposed to know about it till the next book, but I'm going to jump ahead a bit." I say. Soon enough I see the ruins of the District ahead. We land.

"No one's here." Cato observes.

"Just give it a second." I say. Sure enough, a few seconds later a squadron of troops appear from the ruins.

"Drop your weapons!" One of them yells. "Come out slowly with your arms raised!"

We do as he says. As we climb out of the hovercraft, the troops drop their weapons.

"Katniss?" The leader asks.

"Yeah. And you may want to start referring to me as _The Mockingjay._ Trust me, it'll catch on."

"How did you escape the arena?"

"It's a long story which I can tell you later. For now we need shelter."

"Of course!" We're led inside. Everyone gaps at us. Four tributes that are not in the arena and not dead. It's unheard of. We're stitched up and we explain our situation. They're very accommodating. We're given food and beds to sleep in. It feels fantastic after sleeping on the ground and in trees.

I think about everything that's happened in the past 24 hours. I was able to save both Thresh and Cato (that was unexpected)! I can't think of a better way to honor Rue's memory. Plus I got to piss of the Capitol. That's nice.

Then I think about Haymitch and Effie. I imagine their reactions to my wings. I laugh. Then I wonder if they're alright. I hope so. I would feel guilty if I got them killed. And my family. Well, Katniss's family. I hope they're okay too.

My thought are interrupted when Peeta enters my room.

"Katniss, how are you feeling?"

"Peeta, can I talk to you?"

"Of course. What's the matter?"

"I…I have to leave soon. But I want to be sure someone will watch out for my family. And Haymitch. And Effie." I try to explain.

"Why are you leaving?"

"…how do I explain this? I'm not really Katniss. I'm from a different place, that's far away from here. And I need to go back."

"But why?"

"There's nothing here for me anymore." I say.

"But, we could make something." Peeta says. He takes my hand. This gesture makes me sad.

"Wow, did you get that line from a romcom? But anyway, I can't. I have to keep going. Peeta, when I'm gone can you please watch over Haymitch and Effie. Make sure they make it to District 13? And my family? And watch out for Thresh and Cato." I'm not sure what'll happen to Thresh or Cato because I've changed their history. Peeta looks away from me. I'm worried he'll say no.

"Alright. But Katniss…or, what should I call you?"

"Katniss is fine. Or you could call me the _Mockingjay._" Seeing as I can't remember my real name. Plus _the Mockingjay_ sounds epic.

"Katniss, I'll do this for you, but in return can you do something for me?" Peeta asks.

"Alright." I hope I won't regret this. Peeta pulls out a dandelion.

"A dandelion?"

"Yeah. It's so when you get stressed out you can do your strange flower rubbing thing."

"Wow. Thank you. That's actually really touching." I say.

"I hope it makes you feel better. And so you can remember me." He says. I give him a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Now, how on earth could I forget you and your strange cake camouflage, Peeta?" I say. And then I reach for the door. Just before I leave though, I look back and say, "But seriously, _The Mockingjay. _It'll catch on."

**Thanks for reading! I'm so excited people are still keeping up with this story! Please keep reviewing! (I secretly feed off of people's life forces through reviews). SO REVIEW! AND KEEP READING YO! Next up is LOTR. It's gonna be epic.**


	27. Chapter 27

I open the door and step through into a new room. The first thing I notice is that King Arthur's interior designer must have decorated this room. I gaze around. There's a mirror and I see that my hair is now long and blonde. I'm wearing a white dress that goes to the floor. I quickly check that I still have the dandelion. It's in my pocket. I breathe a sigh of relief. I also check to see if I still have wings. Yep. They're there.

I take notice of the rest of the room. It's made of wooden walls and has a fur rug. Made of real fur. Like, from animals. On top of that monstrosity (that at least 20 chinchillas must have died to make), is a bed. On top of the bed is an unconscious man.

I awkwardly stand there. Do I wake him? Is he dead? I kneel down and feel his pulse. There is none. I swallow. I have no idea where I am and there is a dead man in a bed. What book could this possibly be?

"Ohhh…He must have died sometime in the night. What a tragedy for the king to lose his only son and heir. " A slippery voice says behind me. I know that voice. I shiver. _Grima Wormtongue_. This can only mean that I'm in Lord of the Rings. I must be in the sequel, the Two Towers. And I must be Eowyn. But no…That must mean that I'm…and…oh god no…NOT THIS SCENE.

"I understand that his passing is hard to accept, especially since your brother has deserted you." Wormtongue says. He places a hand on my shoulder. I glare at it.

"You have three seconds to get your hand off me and leave me alone or sohelpmegod I will _bite _it off." I growl. He takes his hand off.

"Oh but you are alone. Who knows what you've spoken to in the darkness? In the bitter watches of the night?" Wormtongue hisses. "When all your life seems to shrink. The walls of your bower close about you. A hutch to trammel some wild thing in."

During his deep pretentious sounding lecture, Wormtongue inches closer to me.

"So fair and so cold. Like a morning of spring still clinging to winter's chill." He reaches his hand out to me. I bite it.

"Ahh!" He yells, and pulls his hand back.

"I told you I would bite you. And enough of your creepy philosophical speech." I yell at him as he clutches his wounded hand.

"You bit me!" He cries.

"Yes! That's what you get for being creepy."

"The king will hear about this. There will be consequences." He hisses angrily.

"Yeah right. You think I'm just going to wait for Gandalf to show up to knock some sense into Théoden? That's hilarious." I say, and storm to the throne room.

"W-What are you doing?" Wormtongue asks, trailing behind me. I burst into the throne room.

"M'lady the king is not well today. You should let him rest." One of the guards tells me. I ignore him and walk to the king. He is old and crusty-looking because of Solomon's spell thingy. I think he's sleeping. I slap him awake. He mumbles something.

"Worm-perv over there just tried to seduce me!" I yell at Théoden. "If you don't do something about it, then I will!"

Théoden laughs gruesomely. "You have no power here." I smile.

"Oh _no you didn't_." I say. I have a brilliant idea. To break the spell Gandalf just sort of threw Théoden around a bit. I decide to give that a shot and slap Théoden. I pull him up by his fluffy cloak and then fling him to the ground.

"Eowyn, has your mind been corrupted?" A background guard asks.

"_Has your mind been corrupted?_ What does that even mean? What is that even English?" I ask.

"Come on Théoden!" I continue. "I thought you were better than this. Letting Solomon and Wormtongue manipulate you like this? It's _pathetic._" I slap him some more.

"PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN!" I yell, giving him a slap across his face for each word. He starts to stir. I can almost see Théoden fighting through the mist that Wormtongue and Solomon have placed over him. He just needs a bit of a push.

"Don't make me go full-on-feminist on you! Because I _will_. And while we're at it, a fur rug? Do you know how many chinchillas die every year to make luxuries for rich greedy people like you? Did you know a single coat requires at least 150 chinchillas to make? _150! You monster!" _I yell. I slap him again. Then I stand up.

"Come on, Théoden!" I yell down at him. Wormtongue looks worried because whatever I'm doing seems to be working.

"You have clearly lost your wits." Wormtongue says. "Guards, bring her back to her chambers."

Uh oh. I have to finish this quickly. What's the one thing that could offend Théoden more than anything else in the world?

"And while we're at it, a horse sigil? Really? That's pretty lame. Horses are one step away from unicorns and that's basically declaring yourself a three year old girl." I say. I don't even yell or slap him, but suddenly Théoden is furious.

"How _dare_ you insult my horses?" He says. He sits up and slaps me across the face. Then we're both speechless and we just stare at each other for a few seconds.

"OOOuuuuch! I broke Solomon's curse and this is how you repay me? By slapping me?" I yell at him and rub my cheek.

"Eowyn, how did you expel me of Solomon's poisonous spell?"

"Honestly, I just pissed you off until you came back to your senses. It seemed to work. And just for the record, I actually really love horses. I think they're adorable." I say. Theoden doesn't look too happy about that because I just said that horses are prissy. "Um…And fierce. Really fierce. And intimidating." I add. Théoden smiles.

"It is good to be back." He says.

"Yeah. I hope Solomon enjoyed being bitchslapped back to Mordor." I laugh.

"Pray tell, what is this bitchslapping?" Théoden asks.

"Um...How do I even explain it? Where's urban dictionary when you need it? It's when you slap someone because they're being a whiny little brat. It implies they are not worthy of a punch." I explain.

"Fascinating." Théoden says while trying to absorb this.

"But in all seriousness, you need to stop making coats and rugs and shit out of chinchillas." I say very seriously. Théoden nods, looking both scared and confused at the same time. Suddenly, the doors to the throne room burst open, bringing with them a gust of wing.

"Hail, Théoden son of Thengel!" Gandalf says dramatically. He stops when he notices Théoden is not being controlled by Solomon.

"Théoden, how is it that you have come to be freed from your torment?" He asks.

"Solomon was, "bitchslapped back to Mordor"?" Théoden says, then glances at me for approval. I give him a thumbs up.

"Does this mean we won't get to beat anyone up?" Gimli asks, sounding disappointed.

"If you want, you can beat the shit out of Grima Wormtongue." I say, pointing to Wormtongue. He's cowering behind some guards. I hear Théoden growl next to me, and suddenly he has grabbed Wormtongue and thrown him down some stairs. Wormtongue starts to back up. I notice Théoden has his sword drawn. Every instinct I have (especially the one that hates creepy perverts) is telling me to let Théoden kill him. Yet, I made a promise to Rue and no matter how much I hate it I can't let him kill Wormtongue.

Théoden raises his sword, ready to strike. I groan and then rush in front of him, just as Aragorn does. We slam into each other. I fall back onto my butt.

"Ouch!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Théoden demands. Aragorn holds up his hands.

"No my lord. Let him go. Enough blood has been split on his account." Aragorn explains.

"Yeah, what he said." I agree. I rub my butt because that fall really hurt. Wormtongue sees this.

"Keep your eyes to yourself or I'll bite you again." I threaten. Wormtongue looks away, horrified. Aragorn stands up and holds his hand out to Grima, who spits on it and then runs off into the crowd. I hear him yelled at people to get out of his way, and then he's gone. Théoden looks around.

"Where is Theodred? Where is my son?" He asks. There's a super awkward silence. My time to shine.

"Now that you mention it, there's a dead guy in one of the bedrooms."

**Don't you just hate it when a dead guy shows up in your bedroom? I know I do. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review! And I hope everyone had a nice holiday! **


	28. Chapter 28

I learn that Theodred was the dead guy on the bed when I arrived in Lord of the Rings. Some men carry his body towards his tomb on a bier made of shields and spears. For some reason, I'm told to sing. They asked for it. I try to think of something appropriate. Kansas should do.

_"__I close my eyes only for a moment, and the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes, a curiosity…Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind. Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea. All we do crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see. Dust in the wind. Now don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky." _Hm. Theoden seems pretty upset. Better keep singing.

_"__It slips away, and all your money won't another minute buy. Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind…Dust in the wind, everything is dust in the wind. Du-" _Aragorn puts his hand on my shoulder. Théoden bursts into tears. Maybe my song choice wasn't great.

The funeral procession begins to meander back inside. I notice one of the riders of Rohan staring at me. I pretend as if I didn't see him, and I slip into the crowd. Then I break off and hide behind a stone wall. As the guard walks past me, I steal his sword and push him again the wall.

"Who are you and why are you…Nemo?" I say, shocked. I lower the sword.

"I'm honestly a little surprised you recognized me."

"I'd know that stupid smirk anywhere." I say. There's an awkward silence between us as we both wait for the other to say something.

"I'd like to apologize-" We both say in unison.

"Don't ever do that again." I warn, a little freaked out.

"Yeah. That was weird. But I do want to apologize. I thought about what happened, and maybe you have a point about everyone being equal. I just…I just didn't want you to get hurt or get the attention of the Editors or Aslan because, well I didn't want to lose anyone else-" Nemo begins.

"I accept your apology, but only if you accept mine." I force myself to say. Apologizing is hard, but I realized the Phantom and Raoul had good points. I continue. "I was being stubborn and maybe I should have listened to your side of the story before getting pissed off. Afterall, you were just looking out for my best interests. And it would be nice to have a friend."

"And the bow and arrows appearing and the berries and everything else, that was you?" I ask.

"Sorry about that. I was just trying to be helpful." Nemo says.

"A little stalky, but I'll let it pass. Nemo, were there been other "Jumpers" or whatever we are?"

"Yeah but-"

"Something happened to them right? Is that why you're so worried?" I ask. I think I hit a nerve. Nemo's easy swagger is gone.

"I've been in here a long time. I can't really remember how I got in here. I can't remember their faces anymore…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring on the male-angst. You don't have to tell me if you don't-"

"I do remember one person though."

"OOOkay. I guess you do want to tell me."

"He teached me everything there was to know about being a Jumper. He showed me how to jump, how to become a main character or become a background character, how to keep mementos from previous stories, how to decide which story to go to-"

"Wait, are you telling me you know how to go to a certain story this entire time and you never-"

"And I remember when he just disappeared. Never saw him again. I never learned if he got out or if the Editors got him or if he died. He just never showed up again. It was as if he was never there in the first place."

"Geez, that's heartbreaking."

"So, I'm sorry if I can be clingy sometimes, but I can't lose another friend. I don't want to be alone." He says. I take his hand.

"Well, good thing you're not then."

"What about when you leave? When you go back to your family?"

"My family?" I had forgotten about that. I hadn't thought about them in a while. Then a thought occurs to me.

"Nemo…Do you remember your family?" The look on his face answers my question. "And you don't remember your name either do you? And I'll never remember mine, will I?"

Nemo shakes his head. I sigh.

"Oh well. I gave up on trying to remember my name a long time ago. It's was probably something stupid, like Ethel (no offense to Ethels, I just don't picture myself as one). But Nevermind that. Let's go-"

"Wait, one more thing." Nemo says, and he holds up his hand. In it is a small glowing rock.

"You found the glowing rock thing I left!" I say excitedly. It's the rock from the Mortal Instruments.

"Thought you'd want it back."

"Thanks." I say. "Although, I can't imagine it'd be very helpful anymore. I'm surprised it lasted this long."

"The mementos last as long as you use them." Nemo says.

"What?! This whole time?!...Wait, but what about when my ice wand stopped working?" I ask.

"That was probably because it's a magical device and it's connected to the Ice Queen's powers. Once you weren't her, the power began to diminish."

"Okkaay." I have no idea what he just said. "And what was that thing about being able to travel to whatever story you like? I feel like that would be very useful."

"It's very complicated. It requires the Jumper to be an expert and have expert focus. You also have to have the maximum energy from completing entire series. You don't have nearly enough energy."

"Great. Thanks for the helpfulness!"

"My pleasure."

"And more of your sarcasm. Fantastic."

"You're one to talk!"

"Hey!" We keep bickering as we walk back to the Great Hall (or is it called a palace? Who knows…). Someone shoves past us looking very official.

"What's all that about?" I ask. Nemo looks ready to answer, but then we enter the Great Palace/Hall/Fancy-place-where-people-live. Everyone is hurrying around in a rush.

"Did we miss something?" I ask Aragorn as he quickly walks by.

"We?" He asks. I give Nemo a glance. He shrugs his shoulders.

"You could have told me you were doing that 'invisible' thing again." I tell him. Aragorn looks at me, and then follows my eyes to Nemo (who he can't see). Nemo tries to conceal his laughter because he knows I'm about to bitchslap him.

"Um…" Aragorn makes that all-too-familiar-"you're insane" look. "To answer your question, Théoden has decided to take refuge in Helm's Deep. He has sent men to inform the people to ready to leave."

"That explains that dude leaving in a rush." I say. "Is Helm's Deep that city built into the mountain?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…Is now a bad time to mention I'm slightly claustrophobic?" I ask. Aragorn already left though. Nemo is laughing his head off next to me.

"Stop laughing at my pain!" I say.

"Is this really how you've been going through stories this entire time?" Nemo asks. I frown.

"No…" I mumble. "Hmph. Come on, we'd better get ready to leave. Nemo, where are the swords?"

"I don't trust you with a sword." Nemo says.

"Good thing I don't need your permission." I say. We head towards a promising looking chest. Around us everyone is still packing things. I open the chest and inside is a sword.

"Jackpot!" I unsheathe the sword and start swinging it around. I accidentally impale a nearby wooden beam. "Ops."

I try to pry it out but it's stuck very well. I have a horrible flashback to Narnia, when a similar situation occurred.

"Need some help there?" I hear Aragorn ask from behind me. I turn around quickly. My face flushes and I try to play it off. I casually rest my arm on the sword.

"Help? Help with what?" I ask. Aragorn laughs at me and then pulls the sword out.

"Oh. That…" I say. He hands me the sword. "Thanks."

Suddenly he swings a dagger at me. I quickly raise my sword to defend myself.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?" I yell.

"You have some skill with a blade." He says.

"What if I didn't? Then I'd be DEAD."

"What do you fear, my lady?"

"My broccoli mutating and eating me from the inside." I say. Aragorn shakes his head in wonder.

"Better watch out. I hear they're serving chicken and broccoli for dinner." Nemo says. Meanwhile Aragorn sheaths his sword.

"I do not think that will be your fate." Aragorn says, and then walks away.

"I really hope not!" I comment. Nemo nudges me.

"Sometimes when you leave the script, the characters will continue the lines if it makes sense. It's a little complicated. Basically the story just wants to continue on the storyline at all costs. That's why when you deviate far from it, the Editors have an easier time finding you. It's their job to keep the story going. That's why _I_ stay below the radar and don't mess with anything." Nemo explains.

"That wasn't passive aggressive _at all._" I say sarcastically and then head to the stable to get my horse (aka Eowyn's horse). Nemo trails behind. We find also find Aragorn. He's busying whispering to my horse in a different language.

"Long time no see." I joke.

"Please don't make me watch you two flirt." Nemo says. He has a disgusted look on his face.

"Shut up. I'm not flirting. Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean that when I'm making jokes I'm flirting!" I yell at him. Then I see Aragorn staring at me. I remember he can't see Nemo. Nemo starts laughing. I scowl. Aragorn goes back to whispering gibberish to the horse.

"His name is Brego." I say. For once I know this not from Eowyn's memories, but because there's a nametag on the wall. Aragorn looks up at me.

"I know, RainbowDash is a much better name. But I guess Brego's cool too." I say.

"Brego." Aragorn says. Then he whispers some more to the horse.

"Okkaay. I didn't know you were a horse whisperer." I say.

"It is Elven magic. I was raised in Rivendell…for a time. Turn this fellow free. He's seen enough of war." Aragorn says. He takes his saddle and leaves.

"So deep and angsty." I say.

"Seriously. This is whispering-dramatically-to-animals level male-angst we're talking about." Nemo says. I jump.

"Are you okay?" He asks me.

"Yeah. I've just gotten so used to talking to myself I was surprised when someone answered." I say. Nemo raises his eyebrow.

"Should I be concerned at all?" He asks. I tilt my head, thinking.

"Only a little." I answer. I start to climb onto the horse. I wrap my leg around the saddle and my arm around the horse's neck. I kick my other leg in an attempt to thrust myself up onto the horse. I kick harder and fling myself on top of the horse. It seems I kicked a little too hard though because I keep moving and I fling myself over the other side of the horse. I land in a bucket of water.

I stand up, soaking wet and very embarrassed. Nemo purses his lips, trying hard to keep a straight face. I don't say anything, just start to climb back up onto the horse.

"Do you need some help with th-" Nemo starts. I snap my head to glare at him. I pull myself up onto the horse. I get comfortable in the saddle, and push my wet hair out of my face.

"That wasn't so hard at all." I say, triumphantly (even though I'm still soaking wet).

"Great." Nemo says. "Now make room for me."

"Why, whatever do you mean?" I ask innocently.

"I mean, where am I going to sit?"

"I'm sorry, I don't think there's room for you. Unless you'd like to sit in the puddle of water behind me." I say, smiling diabolically. Whoever said revenge is sweet was absolutely correct. "You'll have to walk."

With that Brego and I start trotting away. Nemo stands there for a second and then follows us.

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	29. Chapter 29

**WHOA, almost up to 30 chapters! I'd like to thank the academy, and all of you READERS for being totally awesome and reading 30 chapters of my very strange "out there" fanfic. We're almost to 3,000 views! that's actually incredible. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK PEOPLE!**

I survey the conglomerate of people gathering their most precious belongings from their homes and readying to leave. I trot over towards the herd of people who have already begun to leave. The line stretches over the hills toward the horizon. I sigh. "It's going to be a loooooooong ride."

"At least you're not walking." Nemo pouts from the ground. I feel better. I fall into line with the other people leaving.

"Lassie!" A voice with a strong accent says behind me. I turn to see Gimli trotting up to me on his little pony. "It's going to be a long ride." He says, "I figure it'd be nice to have some company."

"What's wrong with Legolas?" I ask. Gimli frowns.

"That elf and his full-sized horse!" He explains, sounding very hurt. He pouts at his pony. I nod understandingly, but I'm secretly crushed because I ship Legoli.

"Don't worry, you'll come around." I say hopefully.

"What?" Gimli asks.

"Just give him a chance." I say. Nemo gives me a horrified look.

"Please tell me you're not one of those crazy wackos who ship GimliXLegolas?" Nemo asks. I frown. He facepalms.

"Oh come on!" I say. "It's not like you haven't thought about it either! It's totally a legitimate ship!" Nemo raises his eyebrow.

"Ah...I don't see any ships anywhere. I don't even see any water." Gimli says. Shit. I keep forgetting everyone else can't see Nemo.

"…I was just thinking that ships are very legitimate." I say, while dying a little (a lot) on the inside.

"I suppose I can't argue that. I'm more of a tunnel Dwarf though." Gimli says. I laugh.

"I guess that makes sense seeing as you spend all your time mining and…mining…and what not…What do Dwarves do when they don't mine?" I ask.

"Well, when we're not mining (and that's not often), we like to fight."

"Just…fight?"

"Yeah. Mostly in bars. Sometimes we'll join quests. Tend to get some good fights in those."

"Alright. But what about when you're not mining or fighting?"

"Probably eating then."

"Do you do any recreational activities? Besides fighting."

"Does eating count?"

"No."

"Then no."

"There's no Dwarf tennis? Or soccer? Or music?"

"What's tennis?"

"What about Dwarf women? Are there Dwarf women? I've never seen one before."

"It's true you don't see many Dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for Dwarf men."

"It's the beards." Aragorn says. I jump on my horse because he appeared out of nowhere. Gimli continues.

"And this, in turn, has given rise to the belief that there are not Dwarf women, and that Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground…which is of course ridiculous." Then his horse rears and it gallops through the throng. Gimli is thrown to the ground.

"It's all right. Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate." He says. I help him to his feet and laugh because I've totally used that excuse so many times. I look up and see Aragorn and Théoden talking about something. Probably just football or something.

After a loooooooong ride, my ass is incredibly sore. I guess the movies and books just forgot to mention the fact that riding freaking hurts your butt. I collapse with exhaustion when we finally make camp. Someone yells at me to make soup or soap or something. I hope they said soup because that's what I decide to make. Only I'm so tired I just sort of throw random ingredients in. Peppers go well with Nutella right? At least, I think that was Nutella…

No one seems to want any of the soup I laboriously made. Luckily I get Gimli to eat about three fourths of it. I catch sight of Aragorn. I bet I could guilt trip him into eating it.

"Hey, Aragorn. Want some soup?" I give him a bowl.

"Thank you." He dips the spoon in the bowl and fishes for a bite of…meat? It might be misshapen bread crumbs. His face registers the distaste of the unknown ingredient. He swallows hard and nods with "Yuck" written all over his face.

"It's good." He says.

"Really?" I ask, feeling very accomplished.

"You do know that eggs don't go into soup, right?" Nemo says, looking suspiciously at the soup I made. I scowl at him. He continues, "Did you even cook those eggs?"

"You need to cook eggs? Oh well. All you need to do to make soup is put random things into water. Technically, it is soup." I defend myself.

"I suppose that is true." Aragorn says. I guess he understands why the soup is so bad now.

"Hey…I was just wondering…I heard it through the grape vine that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken." I say. That came out of nowhere. It must be the thing Nemo was talking about, with the story trying to stay on the script.

"King Théoden has a good memory. He was only a small child at the time." Aragorn replies. I do the math in my head.

"Does that mean your 60?" I ask. He chuckles uncomfortably and looks away.

"Omgosh. 70?" He still doesn't respond.

"80?!"

"87." He finally admits.

"Maaaan. Can I have the number of your plastic-surgeon?" I ask, while pulling on Aragorn's face to make sure it's real. He laughs.

"I am one of the Dunedain. A descendant of Numenor, blessed with long life. There are few of us left. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago." He explains. I suck my breath in deeply.

"Yikes. That sucks…I bet that soup'll make you feel better." I suggest. He looks down disgusted at the soup. He reluctantly grips the spoon, and cringes as he sips it.

"You are cruel." Nemo says.

"You don't even know the half of it." I say. Aragorn starts to choke a little bit, thinking I was talking to him about the soup. To be fair, I don't even know the half of that soup. No one should ever have to know that…I shudder and walk away.

Nemo and I wander around the camp for a bit, leaving Aragorn with his soup. I avoid doing as much work as possible because being this fabulous is hard work already. By the time the sun is setting, the camp has been set up. I'm just about ready to find a tent and camp out (literally in this case), when I catch sight of Aragorn. I head over but freeze in my tracks. I notice that he's just sitting there smoking his pipe…then he starts stroking the air…and then making out with the air.

"Ehm." I cough, purposely obnoxious. "I didn't know there was weed in Middle Earth."

"I was just…thinking to myself." He replies.

"Um…Alright. Do you think you could do your "thinking" in your tent? Because it's making me really uncomfortable." Aragorn doesn't say anything to me. He just walks away.

"Whoa. What's got his goat?" I ask, to no one in particular.

"He was thinking about Arwen." Nemo answers me. He doesn't seem to understand my rhetorical questions.

"Hmm. So that's the source of his angst. Very deep." I yawn. "I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep."

"Especially because we're going to be attacked by Orcs tomorrow." Nemo says.

"Wow. Spoiler alert?" I ask.

"What? You'll be better prepared if you know it's coming."

"Yes, but it also takes all the fun out of it." I say. Nemo smiles.

"Why are you smiling? It's creeping me out." I say.

"I thought all you cared about was getting home." He says. I scrunch my nose.

"I still care about that. A lot…It's just…I'm here anyway, so I might as well enjoy it, right?" I say.

"All I'm saying is you should be careful because if you're not ready you could die tomorrow."

"Please. I've survived much worse. I made it through the Hunger Games! Plus, my plot armor hasn't failed me yet." I point out.

"Fair enough." Nemo says. I start towards my tent. "But-"

"But?" I freeze mid-step.

"But you're not a main character anymore. Your plot armor will be much weaker, if you have any plot armor at all." Nemo says. I frown.

"Why must you bring up legitimate points?" I ask. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I really don't want to die tomorrow, so I'm going to go get some shut eye."

Nemo and I head to my tent. Nemo sleeps on the rocky ground, while I sleep on the fluffy bed. After all, I'm the one that's going to be fighting tomorrow. Yet I can't fall asleep. I lie in bed trying not to have a heart attack because I'm panicking about not dying tomorrow. This is a repeat of the Narnia-worrying-about-not-dying-tomorrow-thing all over again. My deep breaths turn into shallow gasps. I hear Nemo stirring on the ground.

"Psst. Nemo. I'm having trouble falling asleep." I whisper. He yawns then rubs his eyes. Before he says anything, a random background soldier comes into my room.

"Ever heard of knocking?" I say.

"My apologies." The expendable character says. "But this is a tent."

"Oh yeah. I'll let it go…this time."

"But I've disturbed you because we are preparing to leave."

"What?! B-but it's like only 10, 11 at the latest!" I complain.

"No, it's nearly dawn." He says, and pulls open the tent to reveal the sun rising above the hills.

"B-but how?" I ask.

"Time can be weird in the Library." Nemo explains. I give him a dumbfounded face. He continues. "I already told you, the Library is what we- I call the database of stories."

"Well, sorry. That was a while ago, okay? If anyone just so happened to be listening to our adventures, it would be necessary to remind them of small details that were mentioned a long time ago as part of the exposition…"

"What?" Nemo and the guard say at the same time.

"I was just asking how long till we leave? And what breakfast will we be getting?" I ask.

"We have some bread."

"Bread? Just bread? Any Nutella?" I ask.

"I'm sure you could find some nuts. Or even berries if you look hard enough." He suggests. I shiver.

"No. No berries. Never again." I say intensely. The guard looks back and forth and then leaves awkwardly. I yawn.

"Better get going then." I say, forcing myself out of bed. I start heading out of the tent, but in my sleepiness I walk into a pole. "Ouch."

"That's not the exit." Nemo says.

"I figured that out." I say, rubbing my head. Not only am I exhausted but I also may have a concussion. Off to a great start. At least I successfully get on my horse. I stay awake just long enough to make it out of the camp. Then I fall asleep.

"OOOOORCS!" Someone close by yells.

"Just five more minutes." I mumble, and rub my head into the pillow/horse's mane. I feel something swing by my head.

"I said just five. More. MINUTES!" I yell. I open my eyes just in time to see an Orc slashing a sword right at my head. I lean backwards so as to keep my head attached to my neck, but accidentally roll off my horse. I sit up, and see the Orc's legs on the other side of the horse.

"This is probably one of the worst ideas I've had yet." I comment and then lunge under the horse towards the Orc's legs. I push him to the ground and grab his sword as he drops it. I pin him underneath me.

"Eeeewww." I cringe. "Why are you so slimy?"

"They're Orcs!" I hear Nemo say behind me. I catch sight of him fighting an Orc that seems very confused why a sword was floating in the air for no reason and attacking him.

"Nice of you to show up!" I yell. The Orc below me shakes in fear at the crazy person on top of him who is talking to thin air. I look down at the Orc and decide what to do. I can't kill him because of the promise I made to Rue…But does that include dismemberment? If he doesn't have a hand he'll still be alive but he won't be able to fight. I shut my eyes and hope to God I hit his hands. I hear a scream and look down. I completely missed. I hit the ground next to the Orc's head.

"Yikes. Sorry about that. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I explain to the Orc.

"What are you doing? Just kill the Orc already!" Nemo says.

"I can't. I made an oath to Rue to not kill anyone ever again." I explain.

"But it's an Orc!"

"Orc's are still people."

"No, Orcs are Orcs."

"Orcs still have rights."

"Maybe they still have rights, but they lose those rights as soon as they decide to start killing innocent people to help Sauron."

"We don't know this Orc killed innocent people."

"It tried to kill you."

"I'm not innocent though."

"But it didn't know that!"

"Look, we can debate morals later!"

"Eowyn!" Théoden exclaims, sounding relieved. "Oh good, you've kept one alive. We can question him." I give Nemo a sideways glance.

"I have some bad news though." Théoden says. "Aragorn fell over a cliff."

"What? But we're in the middle of a grassland!"

"Yes. But it seems there was a cliff. And Aragorn fell over it. Into a river. He's quite dead."

"Did you find the body?"

"No…But we're sure he's very dead."

"Mhmmm." I say. Aragorn is totally still alive. We all know it.

"We will mourn him greatly when we arrive at Helm's Deep." Théoden says. He helps me up. I hop back onto my horse.

"Nemo?"

"Yes?"

"Wake me up if there are any more Orcs."

"Will do." Nemo replies. With that I rest my head back onto my horse pillow and take a nap.


	30. Chapter 30

**CHAPTER 30! I'm so excited! Sorry Sorry Sorry it's been so long since I've posted, my life has just been craaaaziieee. But now that it's summer I'm really excited to finish this up :))))**

"Okay…But all I'm saying is that we've seen that the eagles can travel to Mordor, so why couldn't Frodo just hitch a ride?" I ask.

"Yes, but the Fellowship was a secret mission and the eagles would have compromised the stealth." Nemo rebuts. We have been having this argument for a few hours. Even after we arrived in Helm's Deep.

"But secrecy wouldn't be needed because the ring would easily be carried in and then dropped into the volcano. It would certainly be a lot quicker, and all those battles could be avoided."

"The eagles could easily be stopped by the Nazgul's fell beasts!"

"Are those the snake dragon things?" I ask.

"Yes."

"Okay, that's why you use decoy eagles. Like in Harry Potter with the decoy Harrys."

"Fine. Maybe it's possible, but the eagles wouldn't agree to it because the only reason they helped Gandalf is because they owed him a favor, and flying to Mordor is way more than a favor."

"Why couldn't we just bribe them? The state of Middle-Earth is at risk why couldn't they just help out a bit?" I ask.

"Becau-" Suddenly Nemo is cut off by a commotion. A crowd of people circle around the main gates of Helm's Deep.

"Looks like our good friend finally decided to show up!" I say, pointing towards Aragorn. It seems he's "miraculously" (aka thanks to plot armor) come back from the dead. "'Course he shows up _after_ we unpacked all our luggage."

"Aren't you going to welcome him back?" Nemo asks.

"…why would I do that?"

"Because Eowyn loves him and she thought he was dead and then he just appears very not dead?"

"Ughh. Do I have to?" I moan. "How about I send him a Hallmark card with a cute animal on it and an insincere message later?"

Nemo shrugs.

"I guess that'll work too." Nemo says. I see Aragorn heading up to speak with Théoden out of the corner of my eye. Its probs about that upcoming battle. I should probably help prepare for that…I'm just gonna go grab something to eat instead.

"Nemo, do you know where the food court is around here?" I ask.

"What do you think this is, an outlet mall?"

"We did pass that Macy's."

"What? What Macy's?"

"I don't know. But it was selling mostly weapons." I say. Nemo shakes his head.

"That wasn't a Macy's, it was a MACEies." He explains.

"What? How-Why-But…I give up. Let's just get some food." Just as I turn to leave, a random messenger appears.

"Eowyn. I've been sent to tell you to prepare to join the women in the caves." He says.

"WHAT?" I scream. The guard shrinks back.

"T-Théoden's orders." He says. My eyes narrow. "Please don't hurt me." He whispers.

"Join the women in the caves! So what, we can make him sandwiches? Excuse me while I go slap some sense into this patriarchy."

I storm into the throne room and burst open the doors dramatically (I've always wanted to do that). I interrupt Théoden in the middle of what looks like an important discussion between him and Aragorn. Probably over how to oppress minorities!

"Eowyn, we are in the middle of an important discussion." Théoden says. Aragorn looks at me, expecting a reaction because this is my first time seeing him after his "miraculous" return from death, but I have more important issues to deal with.

"Théoden, I expected better from you but apparently you need a lecture about gender equality." I say, strutting past Aragorn. He looks a little disappointed.

"I don't have time for this. I have an army of ten thousand Orcs coming to eradicate mankind from Middle-earth, and only a handful of able bodied men. Gamling! I want every man and strong lad able to bear arms to be ready for battle by nightfall." Théoden orders a guard. He has moved on from the conversation, but I hold my ground.

"If you arm the abled bodied women too then you'll have double the soldiers!" I point out.

"If I arm the women then they cannot perform their womanly duties."

"Like what? Cowering in a cave while the men do all the fighting?"

"Women are not even capable of fighting." Théoden says.

"Have you seen MULAN? Women are totally capable of kicking ass if you just give them a chance!"

"But they have never been trained!" Théoden argues.

"Neither have the young children you're sending to die!" I say, pointing towards the kid putting on armor upside-down. Théoden makes a weird grumbling sound because he knows I'm right but he just doesn't want to admit it.

"Enough Eowyn! I don't have time for this! I need to prepare the battlements. Aragorn, please escort Eowyn out so we can discuss battle plans." Aragorn puts his hand firmly on my shoulder. The look on his face is apologetic, but I'm still pissed.

"So now I'm not even capable of finding the door on my own? Would you also like to chew my food for me?" I say angrily before leaving the room in a huff. This isn't over…

**YAAAAAY. Chapter 30. Thanks for reading. P.S. I looove reviewsssss**


	31. Chapter 31

**Thanks for everyone whose read this ridiculously long fanfiction (sorry) for this long. Gold stars for all of you. Just for that, I got you this extra long chapter. YAYY!**

"You look upset." Nemo says. "I was honestly afraid to go in there. So I waited out here." He explains.

"I AM upset" I say. I cross my arms and stare intensely out at the horizon.

"The worst part is that he won't even listen to logic! He just threw me out…" I complain.

"It's okay. In _Return of the King_ you can go all badass and slay the Nazgul." Nemo says. He's trying to be comforting.

"But why do I need to wait for _Return of the King_? Why can't I be badass now?"

"Because…character development?" Nemo suggests. I huff. I'll come up with something, I vow on feminism that I'll make a positive difference in gender equality! But how? I sigh dejectedly.

"Come on, let's go find something to eat. That'll cheer you up." Nemo says.

"Yeah…" I say, but my mind is focused on the task at hand. Thinking about it, maybe food might be a good idea.

"Why are you smiling?" Nemo asks, looking concerned. I snap out of my thoughts.

"I'm not smiling." I say.

"You were smiling." He responds.

"Was not."

"Were too."

"Oh my lord. I don't have time for this. Are we gonna get something to eat or not?" I ask.

I follow the other women and children into the caves.

"Are you sure you don't want help with those bags of potatoes you're carrying?" Nemo asks me. I struggle to hold up the bags.

"Phft. Yeah. I'm fine. I'm good." I lie.

"I'm surprised you changed your mind so quickly about going with all the women into the caves." Nemo says, with a hint of suspicion in his tone. I think he's onto me.

"Well, I realized that in the movies and books everything turns out fine without the women. And if I can't help fight, at least I can help protect people from the inside." I explain. Nemo gives me a look. He's not buying it. I turn away from him, and put my bags down. They make a clanging noise as metal bangs against metal.

"Mhm. Potatoes." Nemo says. I don't meet his eyes.

Suddenly, a man comes up to one of the men who were escorting the women to the caves.

"Hey, Steve. Where'd that stash of old weapons go? It wasn't where I thought it was." He says. Nemo gives me a sideways glance.

"I don't remember. Who cares? Those weapons were old and rusty and no one was going to use them anyway." Steve answers. The two men walk away.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you?" Nemo asks.

"Ok fine…so I may have borrowed some old weapons that no one would miss to maybe arm some able-bodied women to help with the fighting-but how could you expect me to just sit down here and do nothing?" I explain.

"I would have been shocked if you had." Nemo answers.

"Really?"

"Well, I've learned that once you've made up your mind there's no changing it. Plus, you've got a point. Getting some extra soldiers would save lives." He says. I can only blink at him a few times.

"Wow…thanks for understanding." I say. Then, our nice moment is interrupted by shouts from above.

"Looks like the battle has begun." I say.

"Mommy, I'm scared." A little girl says, as she grabs onto her mother.

"Let's do this." I say.

"Alright, ladies! People are dying up there and we have been banished down here due to archaic gender roles. I say we change that. I say we break gender stereotypes, and I say we go up there and fight! Fight like any other citizen would for their country and their homeland!" I say dramatically, and hold up a sword. There's silence. It's kind of incredibly awkward. Nemo starts to clap uncomfortably. No one else joins in. My sword starts to waver.

"We could save lives by going up there." I explain.

"But we could die." A middle-aged woman says. Wrinkles circle her eyes, and I can't tell if it's from age or stress. I lower my sword and gaze at the other people looking up at me.

"That's true. There is a very high chance that any of us could die if we go up there. But we may also die if we stay down here. And we'll all die eventually. But we've spent our lives being restrained by societal standards out of our control…do we want our deaths to be the same?" I ask. I'm met with more silence.

Then there's movement from the back of the cave. A lean blonde girl stands, and makes her way towards me. She stops and stares at me.

"I'm Alisha, the daughter of the blacksmith. I have grown up around swords and axes and maces, and I have made swords and axes and maces. I have used them to train with my brothers for nine years…My brothers are up there fighting, maybe dying. It's _my_ turn to fight..." She says, keeping eye contact with me the entire time. Then she looks down and uncovers something hidden in her clothes. It's a sword. I notice at the bottom there's the initials, _A.T. _She looks back up at me.

"You have my sword." She says. I nearly pass out from epicness overload. Then another person stands up. It's a middle-aged woman.

"And my axe." She says and holds up an axe.

"And my bow." Another woman says and holds up a bow and arrows. I squeal on the inside, and smile very widely on the outside.

"That was so cool…" I murmur. I cough and compose myself.

"Alright. Let's show those men what women can do, and BREAK SOME GENDER STEREOTYPES!" I yell. I pick up the bags of weapons and distribute them to the many women who are volunteering. True, there are some who choose to stay behind, but I knew I couldn't win everyone over. Plus, many of them are too old or too young to fight anyway. I wouldn't force anyone to die for my beliefs. Nevertheless, women of all ages stream towards the battle.

"I'm so proud." I say. Nemo comes up behind me.

"Well done. Are you going to join the battle?" He asks.

"Heck yeah I am." I say, and raise my sword and charge ahead. Then I paused.

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I just remembered that promise I made to Rue. About not killing people." I say.

"You're kidding me right?"

"Orcs have feelings too. They have families too!" I point out.

"Actually, Orcs are bred in sacs from the ground. I don't think they have families." Nemo says, contradicting me.

"…"

"And I know this promise you made to Rue is important, and I respect that, but there are also people dying out there. You've convinced more of them to fight, and now it's your responsibility to back them up. Yes killing people is bad, but sometimes it is necessary. It's up to you to decided when or when not to. It varies in different settings."

"Ok, and if I had killed those I was supposed to, I'd probably be dead in the Hunger Games right now. It was because I was able to show mercy and work with Cato that I got out. Why can't I try that with Orcs?"

"Because Orcs don't listen to reason!"

"That's racist!"

"Even if they did, there's too many of them to talk to!"

"I can't accept that!"

"So, you'll let all those people die?"

"UUUUUGH. But I can't just abandon all my morals."

"But isn't it worth it to save those people?"

"…Damnit! Why do you have to bring up good points?" I say angrily, and grab my sword.

I follow the rest of the women outside. It seems we entered the battle at a good time. The Orcs have already broke through the first line of defense. They are already climbing up the ladders and the elves have arrived. Between the added fighters of the elves and the women, we were beginning to push back the Orcs. Nemo and I fight our way towards the wall where the Orcs were climbing up the ladders. I catch sight of Gimli.

"About time lassie!" He yells.

"What can I say? I like to be fashionably late." I joke, and kill an Orc. I wince. _I'm so sorry Rue. _We continue to fight, and I continue to say sorry every time I take someone's life. I hope I made the right decision.

Of course, just when everything seems to be going well, there's an explosion further down the wall, and Orcs come streaming in.

"Ah shit." I realize that something needs to be done if we're going to beat these Orcs back. What did they do in the movie? I try to remember as I fight more Orcs. Suddenly it hits me.

"That's it!" I yell. I duck as an Orc swings his sword at me. I lunge forward and stab him in the gut.

"Sorry about that. Now if you'll excuse me I've got to find Aragorn." I fight my way through the hordes of Orcs and men until I'm next to him.

"Aragorn! I've got to talk to you!" I yell.

"Eowyn? What are you doing here?" He asks, while continuing to fight.

"I wanted to do my part to help out. But that's not my point. The point is that you need to get Théoden to make a direct cavalry charge to push back the Orcs from the gates."

"That's a good idea. You should tell him."

"No, you've got to. He won't listen to me. But he'll listen to you." I say. Aragorn shrugs casually, stabs an Orcs, and starts making his way towards Théoden.

"That was…surprisingly easy." I say. Suddenly there's a searing pain in my right arm.

"EEEEEEEOOOOOUUUUUUCCHHHH." I screech. I look down to see blood spewing out of a slash in my arm. "eewwww…Ooooooooouu shiiiiit."

I put my hand on the wound to stop the bleeding, but there's just agonizing pain. I think I'm gonna be sick. I'm feeling dizzy and I start to wobble. The Orc that slashed me has raised his sword for a kill strike. Just as he brings it down, I lunge forward with my sword, begin to pass out halfway through the swing, and just sort of fall into him. We both go down.

I'm now face to face with an Orc. Something wet is on my face and I can't tell if it's my blood or if that Orc licked me. Either way it's really nasty. I hear another Orc behind me. I turn to see him bringing his sword down. I barely have the strength to roll over off the Orc. I do it just in time too, and the Orc pierces the other in the heart. I raise my sword with my left arm and stab him, but not without searing pain throughout my whole body. I kick the second Orc and he falls backwards.

I start to drag myself towards an alcove and thankfully make it (although cursing all the while). I lean against the wall and inspect the damage. The wound looks pretty nasty. It goes across my entire upper arm and the blood is seeping out, turning everything red. My vision goes a little blurry. I need to patch this up quickly. Stop the bleeding. Something. I tear off a piece of cloth and wrap it above the wound as a makeshift tourniquet. I've seen this done in movies a whole bunch of times, so let's hope it works this time.

I think it works a little because the bleeding slows down. This could also mean that I've lost so much blood that my body has just run out of enough to bleed, but I think I'd also be dead if that were the case. My dizziness has gone away. I successfully stand up and raise my sword.

"Back into the fight." I say through gritted teeth. I walk forward triumphantly…and fall forward as my legs collapse under me. "Or maybe not…"

I grumble because this is incredibly frustrating. I want to help but I am completely incapacitated. But I can't let this stop me. I push myself up and lean against a wall. An Orc appears and charges towards me.

"Not nooooooww." I yell. He swings and I duck. His sword hits the wall and gets stuck.

"Hallelujah! Finally some good luck." I say, and sever the Orc's head. "I'm sorry about that, but I'm in a very bad mood right now and you are not making it better."

I guess I'll just keep fighting like this and hope these Orcs are really dumb and that my plot armor is strong.

"Rue, if you're there (and can somehow travel through different stories)…please forgive me for breaking your promise. I-I guess I'm just not as strong as I thought I was…" I say quietly. I take a breath and continue. "But please give me the strength to at least help save the lives of my friends and everyone else who are fighting tonight. And everyone else I put into danger."

For a moment I can't help but wonder if I made the right decision. Convincing all those people to fight may have condemned them to die…but what about the men who were fighting to protect them? Now they have backup.

Suddenly I hear a scream of agony. I snap back to attention. Now is the wrong time for a moral debate. People are dying. It's time to forget about promises made and broken and past decisions, and do something right. For once.

I raise my sword and charge towards the shouts. An Orc has a small boy pinned in the corner. I charge and impale the Orc with all my strength. There's a horrible gurgling noise. I push the Orc to the side, and pull my sword out of his back.

"Are you alright?" I ask the boy. He doesn't reply, but moans and grabs his shoulder. I quickly glance around and make sure there are no Orcs in the vicinity, and then lean down to help him out. The cut is nasty and rough. Not to be too graphic, but I almost lose my lunch.

"It's not so bad at all." I joke trying to make him feel better. He just cries out in pain. _Ok, I'm not helping_.

"I can't help with this." I admit to the boy and myself. I've got to get him some help. I lift him up. It sends a new shock of pain up my injured arm, but I suck it up. I'm NOT gonna let this kid die. I carry him away from danger. I'm struggling to keep holding this kid up, but I fight through the pain.

"Hold on. We're almost there." I say encouragingly. I see the medics up ahead. "Oh thank the LORD." Of course, that's when a boulder comes crashing onto the nearby building. It comes tumbling down. The path is completely blocked.

"…Dammit dramatic irony!" I yell. The kid moans loudly in my arms. _AAAH Shit. What do I do? What do I do?_

"We'll have to go around. You'll be ok. I PROMISE." I say passionately. I quickly start to jog back towards the other path. I run into a group of Orcs and people fighting. I run by, dodging and ducking so as not to get cut in half or skewered. I do contribute to the fight by kicking a few Orcs in the back, giving the person fighting him a chance to take him down.

We FINALLY make it through and I nearly collapse in front of the medics.

"Kid…hurt…Ouch…" I explain between breaths.

"Your arm is hurt too. You should stay so we can…" I put my blood-soaked hand on the medic's mouth before he can continue.

"I've gotaaa fight." I explain. I'm very delirious from blood loss if you haven't noticed. But that's not gonna stop me from fighting. I raise my sword.

"FOR NARNIAAAA!" And charge back into the fight.

I'm actually doing rather well for someone who lost about 5 pints of blood (just an estimate). I lost count of the Orcs I killed a while ago (much to Gimli's dismay). I catch sight of Nemo fighting some dudes a few yards away. He looks like he could use some help, so I start making my way towards him. I take about one step forward, when I feel a hand on my shoulder. A shiver runs down my spine.

"G-Gimli?" I ask. I turn around, already knowing that it's not Gimli touching my shoulder. Instead I'm face to face with my good ol' Editor friend. My heart stops.

"Hiii there…Long time no see." I say with a scared smile. I take a step back, only to back into another Editor who appeared behind me.

"Gentlemen…I'm sure this is all a big misunderstanding…I'm _Eowyn._" I explain. I can see in their eyes that they're not buying it. It seems they're still pissed off at all those other times I escaped. I'm just glad that the head Editor with his scary scar isn't here. At least not yet. I see the Editor in front of me is staring disapprovingly at the blood that I accidentally got on his nice fancy white uniform.

"I'm sure that'll come out with some Oxiclean." I say. He frowns at me. Suddenly, I feel the Editor behind me reach out. I follow my instincts and kneel down quickly. Because it's worked in the past, I jump between the Editors legs in front of me. I skid underneath him, get up quickly, and start to make a run for it.

"NEEEEMOOOOOO!" I yell, trying to get his attention. "Time to skedaddle!"

I race through the battle. It seems to actually work to my advantage because I have a much easier time than the Editors slipping through the small spaces between people without getting impaled. But I won't be able to outrun them forever. I have to jump to the next story. I need a door. Unfortunately, the closest one is the door to the throne room. _Just my luck_.

It's my only hope, so I keep running towards it, while leaving a stream of blood trailing behind me. I'm on the stairs heading towards the throne room, when I look back to see where the Editors are. I freeze. I can't see them anywhere in the crowd. Their distinct white costumes are not something that's easily overlooked. My mouth goes dry. _Where did they go?_

Oh no…Please let the clichéd, "he's standing right behind me" not happen. I turn, only to have all my hopes dashed. Damn you clichés!

"Thought we'd let you escape again? And after getting blood all over my nice white suit?" The Editor says. He laughs at his joke.

"To be fair, you were the ones that bumped into me." I say. He doesn't laugh. "Hm. Tough crowd." I shrug. Looks like I can't go forward. I swallow and start running down the stairs. I stop when the second Editor appears at the bottom.

"Oh come on!" I yell. _This is what I get for breaking my promise._ The Editors start closing in. This is how I die.

"IT'S GANDALF!" I hear someone yell from outside. I make eye contact with the Editors for a moment. Then they look at each other. For a moment we all just stand frozen. Then there's the sound of feet, and suddenly a crowd of soldiers come running down the stairwell. They sweep up the Editors with them, and I'm only just able to push myself again the wall as they run past. The next moment, both they and the Editors are gone. I fall to the floor, relieved.

"Hallelujah! Great timing as usual Gandalf!" I say happily. I start making my way back up the stairwell, towards the throne room. I stand in front of the door, trying to concentrate my racing mind. I reach my hand out and turn the doorknob. I step forward…

And fall on my face. I look up. I'm just in the throne room, getting looks from the injured people hiding out there. I stand up, and walk back out. _That was weird. _Let me just try again. I do. Nothing. I'm starting to get a little panicky here. That mob won't hold the Editors off for long.

"Having trouble?" My eye twitches. These Editors appearing from nowhere is really starting to get on my nerves. That's when I see it. Sitting right in front of me on the table in the throne room. I can't help but smile a little. I don't even turn to look at the Editor, but run forward.

I pick up the bow and arrows lying on the table before the Editor has a chance to catch me. I point it at him and he freezes.

"Do you really want to do that?" He asks.

"Oh, I think I _do._" I hiss.

"Remember what happened last time?" He says. A shiver runs down my spine as I remember all those sleepless nights and the look on the Editor's face. I feel my hand start to shake.

"If you just put down the bow, we can talk this out. We won't hurt you." The Editor says.

"You expect me to believe that?" I ask.

"You better believe that if the Captain gets to you first, it'll be a lot worse." The Editor says. The Captain. That must be the head honcho guy with the scar. I hate to admit it, but he does intimidate me a bit. But that doesn't mean that I'll just surrender that easily.

"Maybe you have a point." I say. I lower the bow and arrows. The Editor drops his guard for a second. That's all I need. In the blink of an eye, I raise the bow and shoot an arrow straight through his belt buckle, pinning him to the door. No harm done.

"HEY!" He yelled in shock. Thank you Katniss bow skills. I rush past him towards the edge of the outcrop overlooking the battlefield.

"Please, wait!" I hear the Editor yelling from behind me. But I don't slow down. Instead I speed up and jump off the edge. I get one sweeping view of the battlefield before I start to "jump" jump. I'm relieved that Gandalf has come and that we seem to be winning again. I can only hope that Nemo got out. Although the Editors don't seem to know that we're working together. At least for now.

But these thoughts leave my head as I land very hard on some grass. I moan in pain. I landed right on my hurt arm. My head is spinning. I can't tell if it's from blood loss, or pain, or just the last few minutes of my life in general. Before I can even raise my head to learn where I've jumped to, my vision goes blurry. I pass out just as I can sense some people leaning over me.

**Please read and review! Or favorite! or anything really!**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32! Hazzah!**

I'm awoken by the aggravating tweeting of birds. I moan, crush my head into my pillow, and try to fall back asleep. It's no use. I give up and force my eyes open. It's very sunny out. It hurts my eyes. I sit up in bed and inspect my surroundings. It looks like I'm in some sort of infirmary. I have no idea which story I jumped into. And no sign of Nemo either…

As I stand up, someone enters the room.

"Annabeth! You are awake." He says. I look up. My eyes widen.

"Y-You're a centaur!" I observe. I fall back onto the bed. The centaur looks confused.

"Are you feeling alright Annabeth?" He asks. "You're wounds must have been more serious than I thought."

_Annabeth? _Where am I? This seems very familiar, but I just can't place it yet.

"I was just fooling around with you. Of course you're a centaur! W-why wouldn't you be a centaur? Ha. Ha." I say. The man gives me a strange look, then moves on.

"That is good. We were all very worried about you. Especially Percy." The man said. Suddenly it clicked.

"Percy! Percy Jackson!" I exclaim. The centaur nodded, looking solemn. He must be Chiron. And I must be Annabeth. RAAAD. I love being badass females.

"Tell me Annabeth, do you remember anything from last night? We found you unconscious, with this sword beside you." Chiron held up my sword from _Lord of the Rings_. "You'd lost a lot of blood. Luckily the ambrosia healed you up nicely."

"I don't remember anything from last night." I lie. Chiron looks worried. He probably thinks there's some lunatic running around attacking campers or something. He feigns a smile for me though.

"You're just in time for capture the flag too." Chiron says. It's weird because I don't remember eating any peaches, but there's a pit in my stomach.

"Right…And I'm the captain. In that case, I'd better get ready!" I say, and rush out of the infirmary. On the one hand, I've always loved the _Percy Jackson_ books, but on the other hand, I'm horrified to be in charge of a team. And Nemo still has not appeared. I refuse to even _think _that the Editors might have gotten him.

"Annabeth!" I hear a voice behind me. At first I think its Percy, but I turn and instead it's Luke. Instinctually my eyes narrow in hatred.

"I was so worried about you! I'm glad you're back in time for capture the flag." He says. I just glare at him.

"Yeh. I _bet _you are." I hiss. He hesitates for a moment, then continues.

"Well…we're setting up over there. I'll show you." I follow him, but I don't speak to him. I know that in the end Luke did the right thing and was technically a "good guy" and "saved the day", but I'm still bitter about all those times he hurt and manipulated my favorite characters. And while I should bury the hatchet, I can't help but lose control of my emotions now that he's standing in front of me.

"Annabeth!" There's a chorus of welcome when we arrive.

"So what's the game plan?" One of the Athena kids asks. _Good question. _Hmmm. My brilliant plans haven't failed me so far…I quickly brainstorm, think out the details, and then explain my plan to the others.

"That seems a little risky." Luke says. I snap my head to glare at him.

"Mhm. SO IS WORKING WITH KRONOS BUT YOU SEEM TO BE OKAY WITH _THAT!" _I yell. I regret it immediately. Everyone is looking at me shocked, confused, and Luke just looks horrified. His face has paled, and he looks like he saw a ghost. I bit my lip nervously. I can fix this.

"…Is what I would say if I ever met someone working with Kronos. But I haven't. And probably won't. Because Kronos is lying dead in Tartarus. And will for a long time. A long, long, long, looooong time. HAHA. Ha." I force. Everyone is still a bit confused, but it seems to be passing. Luke is still recovering from his heart attack.

"Trust me, this plan will work." I'm not so sure this plan will work. I instruct two random kids to guard the flag, while the others come with me. I then split us up into three groups. Two large groups, and one small. My idea is that if the two large groups attack from two different sides, the small group will be able to infiltrate the poorly defended third side and hopefully safely retreat. My only problem is that Clarisse is a tough opponent and knows the game. I'm not quite sure what to do about her…oh well, I'll just wing it.

As we head out, Percy jogs up to me.

"Hey, Percy!"

"Hey! So what's the plan?" He asks. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"

That triggers a memory. My hand moves to my pocket to find Annabeth's invisibility cap. I smile. That'll make this much easier.

"What're you smiling about?"

"Our secret weapon." I say slyly.

"Should I be worried?"

"No. We've got this in the bag." I say. I can't wait to see the look on Clarisse's face when we get that flag. "Have you gotten your job?"

"Border patrol, whatever that means."

"It's easy." I say. I look around. I see a creek. That looks like a nice spot. "Stand by the creek, keep the reds away." The reds are the other team. We're blue. "Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." _So do I._

I hurry away, duck behind a tree, and put my cap on. Instantly I'm invisible. Now I just need to walk into the camp, grab the flag, and we've won. Suddenly, I remember something. I pray for a miracle, and unfurl my wings. YES! I still have wings. This flag is IN DA BAG. I fly into the air, and head towards the enemy camp.

It feels great to fly again. The wind in my hair, the sun on my back, it's great. So great I fly right past the flag. I do a 360, and land right next to the flag. The two kids guarding the flag feel a breeze as I land, but think nothing of it. Now the only problem is that I won't be able to get the flag into the air without being noticed.

Suddenly, there's a noise to my left. One of the guards leaves to investigate. Then Luke appears from behind a tree and quickly takes down the other guard. I frown. I quickly grab the flag and start running back towards our base. Unfortunately, Luke sees the flag and catches up to me.

"Hey Annabeth! Nice job."

"Don't speak too soon. We still need to get back to our side. By the way, have you seen Clarisse and her posse?" I ask.

"Hmm. I think I might have seen them heading towards Jackson."

"Are you kidding me? Percy!" I drop the flag and rush to help Percy. I can't leave him to take Clarisse and her friends by himself.

I rush into the clearing just in time to see Percy fall into the creek. I'm about to move to help him up, when he gets up on his own accord. And let me say, he KICKS ASS. Damn. He didn't even need me there. It gives me great satisfaction to see him break Clarisse's spear.

Then I hear yelling, elated screams, and my good mood is ruined as I see Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He is flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares kids get up, and Clarisse mutters a dazed curse.

"A trick!" She shouts. "It was a trick."

They stagger after Luke, but it's too late. Everybody converges on the creek as Luke runs across friendly territory. Our side explodes into cheers. The enemy red banner shimmers and turns to silver. Don't cha just love magic? The boar and spear symbols for Ares are replaced by a huge caduceus, the symbol of Hermes. Everybody on the blue team picks up Luke and starts carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron canters out from the woods and blows a conch horn.

The game is over. We've won. I'm just bitter than Luke was the person who got the flag across the line. I turn to Percy. "Not bad."

"You set me up." Percy says angrily. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." In all honesty, I didn't. But Luke already took my credit for getting the banner, so I'm just gonna pretend I totally planned on this happening.

"I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized." Percy says bitterly.

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in but…" I shrug. "You didn't need help."

Then I notice Percy's arm. There's a deep cut across it, yet I watch the cut heal itself before my very eyes.

"Whoa. Can you show me how to do that?" I ask. Percy looks confused.

"Do what?"

"You just healed your cut! Like, instantly." I say. Percy looks down at his arm, baffled.

"I-I don't get it." He says. I get an idea.

"Can I try something? Step out of the water."

"What-"

"Just do it." I say. He does. Immediately, he starts looking woozy.

"Now, go back into the water." He does, and immediately more color comes back into his face.

"That's weird." He observes. I laugh.

"That's _awesome._" I say. My good mood is back, but is interrupted by the growl of a dog. Instinctually, I turn and start hissing. My hair sticks up a bit and I raise my hands like claws. It's a hellhound. Before I can hiss more, the hellhound jumps over me and lands on Percy. While my catlike instincts are telling me to hiss and run away at full speed, I instead pull out my sword and slash at it. The hellhound falls over. I race over to Percy. There are claw marks all over his chest and armor.

"D-Did you hiss?" He asks. It seems he's still able to make jokes. Although on second thought, I think I _did _hiss. Must be leftover from when I was a cat. Luckily, before I have to explain myself, Chiron trots over.

"Someone summoned it." He says. "Someone inside the camp."

"It's all Percy's fault! He summoned it!" She butts in. Before I slap her, Chiron silences her.

"Be quiet, child." That gives me satisfaction. Then I remember Percy's wounds.

"Here, Percy get into the water." I say, and help him into the water.

"Annabeth, what are-" Chiron begins, but trails off. He sees that as Percy wades into the water his wounds heal themselves.

"Isn't that rad? That's rad." I say to Chiron. But I notice he's no longer looking at Percy's wounds but above his head. I look too.

"Now _that's _rad." I say about the trident that has suddenly appeared above Percy's head.

A few days pass. Percy seems upset, which was understandable. I'm starting to get impatient myself because storms are been brewing (both metaphorically and literally). I'm gazing at the stormy sky when I noticed Percy being summoned to the Big House. I couldn't let him go alone, so I rush back to my cabin, grab my baseball cap, and run back. I arrive (invisible of course) just as Percy comes back from the Oracle. Both Grover and Chiron are there too.

"What did the Oracle say _exactly?" _Chiron presses. "This is important."

"She…she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned." Percy explains.

"I knew it." Grover says. Chiron doesn't look satisfied.

"Anything else?"

"No. That's about it." Percy says. I roll my eyes. It's obvious he's lying.

"Very well, Percy." Chiron says. "But know that the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."

"Okay." Percy says. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"

_"__*Cough*Cough* _HADES." I say. I can't help myself.

"Annabeth is right." Chiron says. I blush and remove my baseball cap.

"I was just passing by when I overheard your conversation. But Hades seems like the logical answer. He'd have the most to gain by a war between Poseidon and Zeus…Although I'm sure other people, or gods, or _titans AHEM _wouldn't mind a war either." I say.

"Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth." Chiron explains.

"Ooh. Spooky." I comment. "So, when do we leave?"

"We?" Percy asks.

"Yeah. Three people go on quests. I count three of us here, not counting you Chiron (sorry)." I explain.

"A trio. That'll work." Percy says.

"Excellent," Chiron says. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashes outside.

"No time to waste," Chiron says. "I think you should all get packing."

"I'm ready to ride." I say, while dragging my twenty pound suitcase behind me.

"What's in there?" Asks Percy.

"Some clothes, a book, and seventeen jars of Nutella."

"Nutella? _Seventeen jars?_" Percy asks, bewildered.

"I know. I know." I say. "There may not be enough to share. But maybe if I ration myself, you and Grover can split one of the jars?"

"Hahaha. Alright then." Percy laughs. "Let's go find a lightning bolt."

Just as we're about to head out, Luke comes running up.

"Hey!" He pants. "Glad I caught you."

"Mhm. I'm sure you are." I hiss.

"Just wanted to say good luck." Luke says. "And I thought…um maybe you could use these."

He pulls out a pair of sneakers. Then he says, "_Maia!_" and a pair of wings appear.

"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think those'll even fit any of our feet. Sorry. Maybe next-" I say while pushing Luke and his shoes away. But Percy interrupts me.

"Actually, I think those might fit me." He says. Luke smiles. To anyone else, it would just look like the smile a friend might give to a friend, but I know better. It's the smile a spider gives to a fly that just flew into its web. I narrow my eyes at Luke.

"Hey man, thanks." Percy says. He shakes hands with Luke. Then Luke pats Grover head. Then Luke comes in to hug me. I don't want to, but I do. When we hug, I pull him in close and whisper in his ear, "_I'm onto you."_

When we pull away, I smile as if nothing happened. Luke keeps a straight face, but I see his eye twitch. Percy and Grover turn away to head towards the bus. While they're not looking, I motion to Luke with my hands that I'm watching him. I then run to catch up to Percy and Grover.

"Annabeth? Did something happen between you and Luke? Something seems off between you two." Percy observes. Uh oh. He's onto me.

"Nope. We're still as tight as ever. _That backstabbing cowar…_I-I mean. That back _supporting_ courageous um, friend." I say. _Good save. _I give myself a pat on the back for a great recovery. Now I just need a bs reason for Percy to not wear the shoes.

"But um, Percy I don't think you should wear those shoes." I say.

"You're right. It's a bad idea for me to be anywhere near the air. Hey Grover, do you want 'em?" Percy asks, offering Grover the shoes. Grover takes them excitedly. I'll just come up with some reason for him to not wear them later. We're also intercepted by Chiron who gives us a last good luck and farewell. He also gives Percy the sword Riptide.

By the time we had gotten to the bus terminal, I had already eaten four of the jars of Nutella.

"You guys, I only have thirteen jars left. I think we should turn around. We're already off to a bad start." I say. Percy and Grover just laugh, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation. As we get onto the bus, I realize that I should have asked Chiron about my "predicament" to see if he could help me. _Stupid, stupid, stupid. _At least I remembered my Nutella. I eat another spoonful to make myself feel better.

I entertain myself by people-watching. This old lady boards the bus. She's wearing a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadows her face, and she's carrying a big paisley purse. I start laughing.

"You guys, look at that lady up front." I say. Percy and Grover don't laugh though. In fact their faces pale.

"Sorry… I thought it was funny." I mumble. Percy shakes his head.

"_It's Mrs. Dodds."_ He whispers. Hmm…Mrs. Dodds…I don't know who that is. I wrack my brain.

"OOOHH. She's a Fury." I say, probably louder than I should have. I frown as Mrs. Dodds looks straight at me. Two more old ladies walk on behind her. I look at Grover and Percy.

"I got this. Percy, take my invisible cap. Sneak out behind us. Grover, follow me." The two boys look at each other for a moment, then follow my advice.

I walk up to the front, with my jars of Nutella. As we pass the old ladies, they give us intense looks.

"Where is it?" One of them asks me.

"It? OOOOh. "It". Yes. I have it, right here." I lie. I rummage around through my things. All I can find is jars of Nutella. I bite my lip. I have no other options. I hold out a jar of Nutella.

"It's in here. But you'll probably have to eat the Nutella to find it." The Furies look at each other. One of them takes the jar, opens it, and stares curiously at the delicious hazelnut spread.

"I-It's definitely in there." I lie. The Fury dips a finger into the spread, and then licks her finger. For a moment, she doesn't do anything. Then she puts her finger back in and tries more Nutella. Then she puts her entire hand into the jar and starts sucking in Nutella like a vacuum. Soon her sisters are curious, and they try some too. Next thing I know, I've accidentally started a Fury feeding frenzy in the middle of a crowded public bus. And it looks like they're almost done with the jar. They seemed to have forgotten they were even searching for something. All I know is that I need to get them away from these civilians.

"I have more!" I yell. The Furies rush towards me. I run out of the bus. I thrust my bag full of Nutella jars as far away as I can. The Furies fly after it.

"Come on!" I hear Percy say next to me. I can't see him, but I feel him grab my hand. Grover and I follow Percy into some nearby woods and away from the Furies. A moment later, I hear a loud _BOOM _and see an explosion from the direction of the bus.

"H-How?" I yell at the sky. Percy just grabs my arm and pulls me along. After a while, we stop running and just pant.

"I can't believe I lost all my Nutella." I whimper. This day sucks.

**Yaayy. Please read and review! And I already have the next chapter written, so I'll upload it real soon. Promise!**


	33. Chapter 33

Even worse, it starts to rain.

"Mhm. _Lovely._" I say angrily as my hair starts to get soaked. We shuffle along through the woods as the rain pours down on us. Finally Percy points out a neon sign in the darkness.

"Hmm. Is a neon sign in the middle of the woods suspicious? Nah." I say.

"Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium." Grover reads out loud.

"Ew. I hate gnomes. Creepy little lawn ornaments." Then the smell of hamburgers hits us. I almost pass out. "I think I'll be ok though."

"Oh thank goodness! The lights are on inside." I notice and rush inside.

"Snack bar." Percy says wistfully.

"Snack bar." I agree.

"Are you two crazy?" Grover asks.

"Yes." I answer. Grover rolls his eyes. "This place is weird."

We ignore him.

The front lot is a forest of statues: cement animals, cement children, even a cement satyr playing the pipes which give Grover the creeps.

"_Bla-ha-ha!_" he bleats. "Looks like my Uncle Ferdinand."

"Come on Grover, you're just being parano…" I trail off as I remember the book. I get a good look at the satyr statue playing the pipes, and how maybe I'm imagining it but I swear I can almost see a look of horror on his face. Very impressive craftsmanship though.

"You know what. Maybe Grover has a point." I say. "I'm sure we can find another creepy rest stop somewhere else. I think we should leave."

"But Annabeth! There's food here." Percy whimpers. I can't say no to that face. But then I remember what we're up against.

"Ok. But Aunty _Em's._ Which sounds like M. Which is also the first letter of a certain Gorgon. A certain Gorgon which turns people to stone if they look at her. And we are currently standing in a forest of stone people! Is no one else concerned by this?" I ask. Percy knits his brow together, pondering this.

"Children! We so rarely get children here." A slippery voice sang behind us. A shiver ran up my spine.

"_Close your eyes and follow my lead._" I whisper to Percy and Grover. Then I close my own eyes.

"Yes! We are in fact children. Regular, normal, notinanyway demigods, or associated with gods in any way, actually, we're atheists. Yep. But um, where exactly are we?" I ask.

"Why, you are at Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium. Surely you saw the sign when you walked in?" She asks.

"Mmm. Yes about that. You see, when we were wandering through the woods there was this uhh…lizard." For some reason that dinosaur from Jurassic Park, the Dilophosaurus, came to mind. Please forgive me. "This lizard appeared, it sort of looked like a dinosaur, and it spit some sort of acid or poison or venom, or I don't even know what in our eyes. So we can't see."

My eyes are closed, so I can't see Medusa's reaction. All I hear is silence. Then she breaks it.

"You…can't see? Anything?"

"Yep. Blind as a bat. By the way, you should really hire an exterminator to get rid of those dino- I mean lizards." I say. There's more silence. My guess is Medusa is trying to figure out how to deal with us if she can't turn us to stone.

"Maybe I can help get some of that acid out of your eyes?" She offers. I hear her turn. I make a risky decision, but I decide to peek my eye open. I'm right. Medusa turned to get something. Probably something she can impale us with. I tap Percy. He opens his eyes, sees Medusa, gives me a nod, and in a flash has decapitated her. With a thud, her head falls to the floor. A few snake fall out of a turban she's wearing. Warm ooze leaks out of the head.

"Nasty." I say.

"If that was Medusa…then that w_as _Uncle Ferdinand." Grover says sadly. I grab a piece of fabric and wrap Medusa's head in it.

"What now?" Percy asks.

"I say we loot what we can in terms of food and money, and head out." I suggest.

"Sounds good. There's just one more thing I want to do before we go." Percy says. He disappears into another room. I hear some rummaging, and a second later he appears with a box in his hands. He puts the head into the box, and starts filling out an address to Mount Olympus. He slips the head into the box along with some golden drachmas.

"They're not going to like that." Grover warns. "They'll think you're impertinent."

The box disappears.

"I _am _impertinent." Percy says. Grover gives me a look, tacitly asking for help. I shrug.

"Not to be that guy…but the gods _kinda _deserve it. Plus, they're immortal. It's not like they can get turned into stone. Who knows, maybe they'll appreciate the gesture?" I say. Grover looks skeptical.

"Let's get out of here." I say. "These gnomes are giving me the creeps."

The next morning we (by we I mean Grover) find a lost poodle named Gladiola. After Grover has a few conversations with him (it's a satyr thing), we turn him in and get reward money. We have enough to get three tickets out west, straight to hell. Literally.

Unfortunately, we only have enough money to make it to Denver. I guess hell will have to wait a few more days. While on the train, Percy tells me about a dream he had the night before.

"Hm…Well. I suppose that mysterious clouded figure could be Hade. I suppose it could also maybe hypothetically be someone _else_, by that's only theoretical. Haha." I say. It was totally Kronos. I am very tempted to tell Percy and Grover, but I'm also worried that if I do I'll get the attention of the Editors, which is the last thing I want. I'm also worried because I haven't seen Nemo. There's a horrifying suspicion creeping up in the back of my mind, like that three day old sushi in the back of the fridge that no one wants to acknowledge, that the Editors may have gotten him. And it would be my fault. I bit my lip. I refuse to believe that may have happened. I just need to give Nemo some time.

When we got to St. Louis we were told over the intercom that we'd have a three hour delay before moving on to Denver.

"Let's get some food." Grover suggests. I am all on board with that. I'm about to agree and open my mouth to when instead, "The Gateway Arch. This may be my only chance to ride to the top. Are you coming or not?"

Whoa. What. Where did that come from? Must be something Annabeth _really _wants to do I guess. I just hope I don't have to burst out into song like last time (*cough*cough* _Phantom_).

So we head to the Gateway Arch. Grover smells for monsters, but explains that underground also smells like monsters. That doesn't make me feel better. I'm not an idiot, and I know that there's definitely going to be a monster here. I read the books. That's how this works. We stop somewhere, get attacked, repeat.

I feel nauseous when I see the tiny little box that's going to take us to the top.

"OOOoooo boy." I gulp.

"I thought you wanted to go to the top?" Percy asks, also clearly hesitant about the elevator.

"Yeah." I say, my voice several pitches higher than usual. I bring it back down to its usual sound. "Yeah, of course. It's just an elevator."

So we climb into the car. We're accompanied by a large plump lady and her dog, a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar.

"No parents?" The lady asks. She has beady eyes; pointy, coffee-stained teeth; a floppy denim hat, and a denim dress that bulges so much, she looks like a blue-jean blimp.

"Wow. Ok. _That's _not creepy at all. Geez lady, do you ask that to all the kids you see walking around by themselves?" I turn to the guard in the elevator. "Look, all I'm saying is that if we go missing in the next 24 hours, you've got your first suspect."

Her Chihuahua growls at me. I hiss back. The woman says, "Now, now, sonny. Behave."

"Sonny? Is that his name?" Percy asks.

"No." The lady answers. _Okkaaay then._ This lady is sending out red flares. My spideysense is tingling.

As soon as we get to the top, I rush out. I take on look around at the windows and the height we're standing at, and I want to pass out. Thank god, the ranger announced the observation deck was closing in a few minutes. I rush back into the elevator, vertigo still making me woozy.

"You feeling okay?" Grover asks.

"Y-Yeah. I'll be fine." I say. The elevator doors close and we start heading down. I notice there's two other tourists in the elevator with us. "Where's Percy?" I ask.

"The elevator was full. He said he'd take the next one." Grover answers. My eye twitches.

"We left him along with _Chihuahua LADY?_" I ask. I start to panic.

"It'll be okay Annabeth. Percy can take care of himself." Grover assures me, but I can tell he's just as freaked out as I am. I turn to the guard in the elevator.

"We need to go back up." I say.

"No can do missy. Observation deck is closed." He answers. I frown at him. When the elevator lands, I grab Grover's hand and we rush outside. As we're locating the exit, we hear a loud boom and look at each other in horror.

"PPPEEEERCY!" We yell in unison as we burst into the daylight. I stare up at the Arch. There's now a gaping hole in its side. Without thinking of the consequences, I unfurl my wings and take to the sky. I rocket towards the hole. I pull out my knife as I land.

"Ok. Whose ass do I need to kick?" I ask. I look around, but Percy's gone. Only the fat lady and her Chihuahua, which has grown twelve sizes and now has a lion's head, body and hooves of a goat, and a snake for its tail.

"Damn. That is one ugly Chihuahua." I say.

"It's a CHIMERA!" The lady yells.

"Geez, chill out. Anyway, where's Percy?" I ask, trying to look threatening. The lady laughs.

"Splattered somewhere on the pavement below." She says. I'm furious. I've had enough of this lady. She wants to see something splattered on the pavement? I'll help her out. I make it appear as if I'm going to attack the Chihuahualiongoatsnakething, but instead I fake it out and grab ahold of its collar. Luckily for me, it's already very close to the hole and I just need to give it a little nudge. I use my wings and hurl it into the air. Unfortunately, my hand is stuck on its collar.

We both start plunging towards the pavement below. I start searching for the latch on the collar. After a painful second, I find it and unlatch it. I'm freed just as the animal hits the ground. It explodes in a glittery golden shower. The only thing left behind is the collar.

"Are you kidding me? That's my spoils of war? A ratchet collar." I frown but pick it up anyway. Then I remember Percy. I run over to Grover, who's standing shell-shocked.

"Grover! Where's Percy?" I ask. He can only point towards the river.

"The river? Thank god! That means he probably survived. Probably." I say. We search around the river banks for a few minutes. I'm about to suggest we go into the polluted river, but suddenly we catch sight of Percy.

"Percy!"

"We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!" Grover yells excitedly.

"Percy, are you okay? What happened?" I ask. He tells us about the lady and her Chihuahua.

"I knew that lady was suspicious." I say. He also tells us about a message some woman in the river told him.

"Do we really trust a strange woman in a river that tells us to go to Santa Monica?" I ask.

"It's a message from his dad! We can't ignore it." Grover says. I trust him. "Ok then. To Santa Monica."

"Whoa whoa whoa. Wait a second. Can you please explain what's up with the wings?" Percy asks. I didn't realize I handed hidden my wings. Plus Grover saw them before. Come on brain, come up with a good lie here. Please.

"I made them." I explain, vaguely remembering some myth I had heard mentioned at the camp. "I made them myself. Like Adalus."

"Daedalus?"

"Yep. That guy. I am a daughter of Athena." I point out. They seem to buy it.

"That's so cool! Do we get some?" Grover asks.

"I only had time to make one. When we get back to camp, I'll make you both a pair." I say. "But right now, we've got a date in Santa Monica."


	34. Chapter 34

**Sorry I had no author's note last chapter (I know you're all very upset), but I was rushed. Let me know if there are any typos I missed. Also, an anonymous guest asked if in the last chapter my "let's ****_head out_****" pun was intentional. The answer is yes (actually no, but I'm going to pretend as if it was). Any how, enjoy this next chapter! :)**

We catch the train and successfully make it to Denver without having anymore monster encounters. We also contact Chiron at a car wash via a homemade rainbow and Iris messaging. Unfortunately, Luke shows up instead of Chiron. I'm about to passive-aggressively tell Luke to go shut it and get Chiron when some idiots pull up in a big Lincoln Continental with the stereo turned to maximum hip-hop.

"What's that noise?" Luke yells. I roll my eyes.

"Give me a second!" I yell. I walk up to the car and tap on the window. A few seconds later the car speeds away as quickly as possible, nearly hitting a lamppost. I walk back to Percy and Grover.

"Jesus, what did you _say _to them?" Grover asks, horrified. I smile.

"That the car wash was closing because it had an infestation of car worms."

"Car worms? That's…that's not a real animal." Grover says.

"They don't know that." I say, referring to the hooligans in the car. Suddenly I hear the screech of a car veering suddenly, a crash, and a moment later police sirens. My face pales.

"I think we should go now…" I say. "Percy! What did Chiron say?"

"Not much. Come on, let's find some dinner." He says, looking grumpy.

We're sitting in a diner trying to dig up some money to pay for food. My stomach is grumbling, and it looks like Percy might pass out. All of a sudden, a rumble shakes the whole building. A motorcycle the size of a baby elephant pulls up to the curb.

"Oh no." I moan.

All conversation in the diner stops. The motorcycle's headlights glare red. Its gas tank has flames painted on it and a shotgun holster riveted to either side, complete with shotguns. The guy on the bike is even more butch than his bike. He would've made pro wrestlers run for Mama. He's dressed in a red muscle shirt and black jeans and a black leather duster, with a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. He wears red wraparound shades. As he walks into the diner, a hot, dry wind blows through the diner.

"Whoa, talk about_ compensation_, if ya get what I'm saying." I giggle at Percy and Grover. The guy's radar hones in on our table immediately. Grover looks at me in horror. Percy just glares at the man. He stomps over to our table.

"It's on me." He says, stone cold. He slids into our booth, pushing me up against the window. My shoulders squish into my cheeks.

"Ok, _terminator_, think ya could scooch over a little?" I ask. He ignores me and instead talks to Percy.

"So you're old Seaweed's kid, huh?" He asks with a wicked grin. It's the first emotion besides plain anger that he's exhibited, and I must say I'm not that impressed.

"What's it to you?" Percy retorts. He suddenly got real sassy. Ok then.

"Percy," I'm about to say that I've never seen him look so serious, when the guy cuts me off, assuming I was going to reprimand Percy.

"S'okay. I don't mind a little attitude. Long as you remember who's the boss. You know who I am, little cousin?" The man asks Percy. I roll my eyes.

"The human embodiment of testosterone?" I mumble under my breath.

"That's right. Ares. God of War." Ares says. "I'm here because I've got a little preposition for you."

"Thanks, but we don't need any grammatical terms to show location." I say.

"Not a preposition, a_ proposition._" Grover points out, then shrinks back into the booth in terror.

"Alright, you punks. Ya want to do it or not? All I need you to do is get my shield. I left it at an abandoned water park here in town. I was going on a little…date with my girlfriend. We were interrupted. I left my shield behind. I want you to fetch it for me." Ares says. Before Percy can come up with another snappy remark (I don't know what's gotten into him), I interrupt.

"What's in it for us?" I ask.

"I'll arrange a ride west for you and your friends." Ares says. I contemplate this for a moment.

"Hmm. How about this? I want a "first class" ride west, _and _I want you to conjure one of your zombie fighters or whatever to be our personal chauffer. I know you have the power to do that. And I want to call him Alfred." I say. Ares knits his brow together, thinking about this.

"Okay. You've got yourself a deal."

"Annabeth!" Percy exclaims.

"Chill out Percy. This quest will be ten times better with a zombie chauffer named Alfred. _Trust me_." I say.

"Help me out, and maybe I'll even tell you something you need to know. Something about your mother." Ares says to Percy. Percy is suddenly interested. He crosses his arms, but reluctantly agrees.

"So the park is a mile west on Delancy. You can't miss it. Look for the Tunnel of Love ride. I'll meet you back here." Ares says. I can't help but giggle a bit. Before either Percy or I can comment on that, Ares disappears.

"It's probably some kind of trick." Percy says. "Forget Ares. Let's go."

"You're absolutely right. It is almost definitely some kind of trick. Nevertheless I will get that zombie chauffer named Alfred, so help me. So we're going. Come on." I say. With that matter settled, we head out.

After breaking into the old, crusty water park we start looking for the Tunnel of Love.

"Ew. Who would bring their date to this ratchet old place?" I ask.

"That's what I was thinking." Percy agrees. "If Ares brings his girlfriend here, I'd hate to see what she looks like." I laugh.

"Isn't he dating Aphrodite?" I ask.

"Yeaaa." Grover says, clearly dreaming about Aphrodite.

"Why would she let him bring her to this dump?"

"Probably so that her husband, Hephaestus wouldn't find them."

"Murder, incest, adultery. Wow, are you sure the gods aren't Game of Thrones characters?" I ask. As we walk around, I notice a rubber ball in the gift shop. Instinct tells me to grab it, and I remember that it could be useful when we meet Cerberus.

"Look!" Grover says, pointing to an empty bowl about fifty yards across. Above it a sign read, _THRILL RIDE O'LOVE: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TUNNEL OF LOVE. _Marooned at the bottom of the pool (like Ares's love life) is a pink and white two seater boat with a canopy over the top and hearts painted all over it. In the left seat, glinting in the fading light, is Ares's shield, a polished circle of bronze.

"I wonder what scared Ares away…" Percy asks.

"Maybe he has commitment issues." I say. I laugh hysterically. I wipe away a tear from my eyes.

"Ooh man, but in all seriousness, yeah we should be on the lookout." I say. I stare at the cupid statues lining the rim.

"Grover, find a rope so we can get out quickly." I say. I start sliding down into the pool. Percy follows me. I look around for traps. Percy walks up to the shield.

"I think we're in the clear." I say, having not noticed anything. I turn back to Percy. It seems when my back was turned, he had picked up the shield.

"Um…Annabeth?" He asks, looking concerned.

"Guys!" Grover yells. Up on the rim, the Cupid statues are drawing their bows into firing position. Before I could even say a final curse, they shot, but not at us. They fire at each other, across the rim of the pool. Silky cables trail from the arrows, arcing over the pool and anchoring where they land to form a huge golden asterisk. Then smaller metallic threads start weaving together magically between the main strands, making a net.

I rub my temples. "I really don't need this in my life."

Percy and I run towards Grover. But the threads begin to weave themselves into the rope he's holding and start to wrap around his hands. Then the Cupids' heads pop open. Out come video cameras. Spotlights rise up all around the pool, blinding us with illumination, and a loudspeaker voice booms: "Live to Olympus in one minute…Fifty-nine seconds, fifty-eight…"

"Are you kidding me?" I ask the universe. Then a hatch opens, and thousands of tiny metallic spiders pour out.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?" I scream at the sky. I'm so done.

"Grover! Turn on the water!" I yell.

"Thirty, twenty-nine." The loudspeaker calls. I get an idea. I pull of a hatch from the side of the pool, and start slamming the spiders with my makeshift blunt slab. Percy is yelling something at Grover.

"Fifteen, fourteen." The loudspeaker says. I need to stop the spiders from coming in. I rush over the hatches and stuff one of my shoes into it. The spiders are stopped. I move onto the next hatch. The spiders are now crawling all over me.

"Eeewww." But I force myself to keep going. I stuff my other shoe into the other hatch. Unfortunately, I only have two shoes. The universe just really hates me today. I turn to see Percy on the boat, trying to fend off spiders, while yelling at Grover. I rush over to help him out.

"Five, four." The speaker announces. Then I get an idea.

"Percy! We're so stupid!"

"Thanks I've noticed!" Percy says, and swats away some spiders.

"You're a son of Poseidon and we're in a water park." He looks at me.

"Two, one, _zero_" The loudspeaker announces. Just as it says zero, water burst out of pipes all around us. I jump into the boat and hold on tightly. The spiders short circuit all around us. Spotlights glare down on us. All of Olympus is now watching us.

"Geez, do they not have Netflix on Olympus?" I ask Percy. Then our boat lurches forward, and we start plunging down the Tunnel O'Love.

"THIS IS NOT HOW I PICTURED MY FIRST DAAAAATEEEE!" I yell, while trying not to hurl.

Percy and I hold tight as our boat shots around corners and plunges down ninety degree angles, and past pictures of Romeo and Juliet, and other Valentine's Day stuff. I sighed with relief as we came out of the tunnel, only to sigh with exasperation upon seeing that the pool where we should have safely landed, was barricaded by two boats. We were about to crash into them. I grab Percy, he gives me a shocked look, and I roll my eyes.

"Trust me!" I yell. A moment before we hit, I unfurl my wings and propel Percy and myself into the air. I fly us up a little, safely out of the way of the shrapnel, then safely land.

"Worst date ever. We're breaking up." I say jokingly to Percy. He smiles. He looks down at Ares's shield.

"This had better be worth it." He says. I notice the Cupids are still filming.

"I need a moment." I say angrily, and storm towards the cameras.

"I hope you're all thoroughly entertained." I say sarcastically. "I'm sure that when you are on the brink of war, the best way to spend your time is by watching little kids get beat up instead of, oh I don't know, MAYBE HAVING A FAMILY INTERVENTION. You know, if you all just talked to each other a little bit more, maybe you would put two and two together and see you're all getting PLAYED. Honestly, I can see why the Greeks and Romans stopped believing in you. Because all you do is bicker and squabble and do a really shitty job of keeping peace. So you can all sit on your shiny thrones on Mount Olympus and wait for us to clean up _your_ mess. In the meantime, I'm converting to Buddhism."

At this point, Percy and Grover pull me away from the cameras.

"Show's over!" Percy says. "Thank you! Good night!"

The cameras shut down.

"Annabeth, are you crazy?" Grover asks.

"Sorry, I have a problem with shitty authority figures." I explain.

"Let's just hope they found that outburst funny, not insulting, and that they don't strike you down…or worse." He says.

"It was worth it." I say. "Plus they know that we're their only hope at peace. They wouldn't smite me."

"Either way, I think it's time we had a talk with Ares." Percy says. He's clearly as angry as I am.

"I'm with you." I agree. Grover looks horrified but nods.

"I'm with you till the end…hopefully that won't be for a while." He says nervously.

The war god is waiting for us at the diner.

"Well, well," he says. "You didn't get yourself killed."

"You knew it was a trap," Percy says. I put my hand up.

"Percy, let me handle this." I say. I point my finger at Ares. "You knew it was a trap."

Ares gives us another wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith was surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV."

Percy shoves the shield at Ares. "You're a jerk."

I don't hold Percy back. Ares grabs the shield and spins it in the air like pizza dough. It changes from form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slings it across his back.

"Where's our limousine?" Percy asks. Ares nods, and a limousine comes zooming up to us with flames racing behind it. And I mean, literal _flames_. It comes to a stop and a zombie chauffeur steps out of the driver's side. He walks over to the passenger side and opens the door. I bounce around in excitement. I walk up to him, and sure enough his nametag reads Alfred.

"I don't like you Ares, but you certainly deliver." I say. Ares cracks his knuckles.

"Yeah, and here's a little something for doing the job." He slings a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tosses it to Percy.

Percy says, "I don't want your lousy-"

"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupts, giving Percy his best red-alert warning look. "Thanks a lot."

Percy reluctantly slings the backpack over his shoulder.

"You owe me one more thing," Percy tells Ares. "You promised me information about my mother."

"You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-starts this motorcycle. "She's not dead."

"What do you mean?" Percy asks.

"I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept."

"Kept. Why?"

"You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else."

"Nobody's controlling me."

Ares laughs. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."

Percy balls up his fists. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares, for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."

"To be fair, we ran from them too." I point out. I see the faces on both Percy and Ares. "Sorry, not helping."

"We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back." Ares starts his Harley, then roars off down Delancy Street.

"Okay, so let's try to avoid fighting in the future because I don't feel like getting impaled. Come on, we've got a sweet limo waiting for us." I say. Both Grover and Percy seems agitated, but they get into the limo. They don't talk for a while because of their sour moods. During the silence, my mind slips back into worrying about Nemo. His words keep ringing in my ear. _And I remember when he just disappeared. Never saw_ _him again. I never learned if he got out or if the Editors got him or if he died. He just never showed up again. It was as if he was never there in the first place._ For all I knew, I could be waiting for Nemo forever and he could never show up again. But there was no way of knowing…

"Annabeth that must've been pretty intense back there at the waterpark." Grover says, bringing me back to the present.

"Huh? I mean, I've never a huge fan of waterparks but it wasn't so bad." I say.

"I meant the spider. Children of Athena are scared of spiders because of the Arachne story. But you handled yourself well back there." Grover says. _Whoops. _Looks like I was supposed to be afraid of spiders. I forgot about that detail.

"I sort of outgrew that fear. It's pretty irrational, ya know? Honestly, I think the inescapable oblivion of the universe is much for petrifying." I say. Grover nods, absorbing what I just said. My stomach grumbles.

"Hey Alfred!" I shout to the front. "Is there any food around here?"

Alfred groans something.

"Hmm. I think he said there're some Oreos in the backpack." Grover says.

"…How did you?" I ask, but it seems Grover didn't hear me. He reaches into the backpack, and sure enough, there's a pack of Double Stuf Oreos.

"MMMMmmmMMM." I say, and we start passing the Oreos around.

**Reeeeeevviiiieeeewwwwwwwwwwwwww.**

**I'm not ****_forcing _****anyone to review...but I'm also not stopping anyone from reviewing ;) if ya catch ma drift.**

**(Review. I'm trying to ask you to review) **

**REeeeeeevviiieeeewwww (pleeease)**


	35. Chapter 35

**I'm soooooo excited you guuuuyyss. I hope ya'll are as excited as I am. 'Cause I'm pretty excited. But that's not the point. The point is that I decided to give you an extra long chapter as reward for just being so rad. I am a generous god (I accept animal sacrifices and reviews as payment to my godly awesomeness).**

**Okay, sorry for getting a little carried away. Don't actually kill any animals, I love animals. BUT you CAN totally REVIEW. But read the chapter first...**

After eating way too many Oreos, and going into a sugar coma, I wake up to discover we're in Nevada. Las Vegas, Nevada to be precise. We gaze out the window at all the dazzling lights. Then in the darkness a white suit stands out. I clutch the armrest.

"Annabeth, are you alright?" Percy asks. He doesn't notice the stranger who is closely monitoring the passing cars.

"I think we should get out here." I say. Percy and Grover seem confused, but agree.

"As soon as we get out, speed away as quickly as you can." I tell Alfred. "And I couldn't have asked for a better zombie butler named Alfred. We had some great times." A single tear rolls down my cheek. "I'll miss you buddy."

We slow down as we turn a corner and Percy, Grover, and I quickly jump out of the limo and run for cover. We walk down the block. It is nearly a hundred and ten degrees, but we keep walking. A few times I think I see a flash of white behind us. We take a few more zigzagging turns. I look back, and see that white suit. I look at the pavement and start walking faster.

"In here." I say. We turn the next corner, only to find ourselves in a dead end. We're standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.

_"_Oh no." I groan.

"Annabeth, is something wrong?" Percy asks. "Is something following us?"

"I think so." I say. I really don't want to do this but I don't think we have any other choice. "Let's go in there for a few minutes to hide." I point at the entrance that was a huge neon flower, the petals lighting up and blinking. No one is going in or out, but the glittering chrome doors are open, spilling out air-conditioning that smells like flowers-lotus blossoms to be exact.

The doorman smiles at us. "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"

"Yes!" I say, and we rush in. Just as we make it into the sanctuary of the air-conditioned Casino, the Editor appears. He takes a moment, studies the dead end, then continues on. I breathe a sigh of relief.

"I think we're in the clear. We should hang here for a few minutes, then continue on." I say to Percy and Grover. There's no answer.

"Percy? Grover?" I ask. There's no one there. "Oh no…"

I feel overwhelmed when I wander into the Casino. The entire lobby is a giant game room. There's an indoor water slide that's at least forty floors high. There's also a climbing wall on one side of the building and an indoor bungee-jumping bridge. There's virtual reality laser tag and about a bazillion different video games…but no sign of Percy or Grover.

I know that a minute in here could be an hour outside, so it's the utmost importance that I find them as soon as possible.

"Hey!" A bellhop says. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."

"That's great, but I'm looking for my two frie-"

"And here's your LotusCash card." He says. He hands me the room key and green credit card, and walks away before I can ask him if he's seen my friends. I toss the cards away.

"Percy! Grover!" I start yelling. I'm forced to search the entire floor. There aren't many people around, but I ask them if they've seen anyone matching Percy's or Grover's descriptions. No one even acknowledged me. They were all too absorbed in the games. I decided that they must've gone up to a room. I sneak over to the reception desk. There's no one there, which I suppose makes sense because it's not like anyone is actually paying to stay here. It's good for me though because it gives me a chance to sneak back. I analyze the different room keys. There are about thirty missing. That means there are thirty rooms being used right now. I'm never going to have enough time to go through all those rooms.

Then I notice a speaker. I pick up the microphone and turn it on.

"Ahem. Ahem." I say. My words echo through the hotel. _Perfect_. "Could Percy and Grover please come to the front desk to pick up their new and improved cash cards?"

I put down the microphone.

"Excuse me, Miss." It's the bellhop from before. "You really shouldn't be back there. If you'd just come with me."

_Nope._ I quickly race away from him and disappear into the game room. I sneak into one of the laser tag rooms as the bellhop walks by. I peek my head out, check for bellhops, and sneak back to the front desk. Percy and Grover are already there.

"Percy! Grover! Thank goodness." I say, and embrace them both in a hug.

"Annabeth, we're about to have our cash cards upgraded." Grover says excitedly.

"That's great. But we need to go now." I say. They both look upset. "We have a quest. Remember?"

Both boys need a moment to remember what I'm talking about.

"We've wasted enough time in here." I say. I grab their hands and drag them out. They look longingly at the game room.

"Can I interest you in a platinum card?" A bellhop asks us at the exit.

"Find someone else to hoodwink." I say and hurry past. As soon as we leave the building, Percy and Grover start to regain focus. Percy picks up a newspaper sitting on the ground. He looks distressed.

"We were in the Lotus Hotel for _five days_." He says. "We have one day to complete our quest."

"What? There's a deadline for this quest?" I ask, now distressed myself. "We'd better hurry it up then." I see a nearby taxi. Percy still has his Lotuscard. I hope this works. I walk up to the taxi and ask him, "Do you except credit cards?" He nods and I hand him the card. Sure enough, it works! So we climb into the taxi and I tell him we're going to Santa Monica Pier, Los Angeles. He nods again, and we're off.

I'm relieved when we finally make it to Santa Monica. We walk out to the beach.

"Now what?" I ask. Percy was told to go to Santa Monica, but that was as far as instruction went. Then Percy starts to wade into the water.

"Uh, is now really the time for a swim?" I ask, but Percy is gone. "Guess we wait." I say.

A while later, Percy returns. He steps out of the water, but he's already dry. He holds out his hands to reveal three pearls. He explains how they can get us out of the Underworld.

"That's helpful. First we need to get into the Underworld though." I point out.

"At Medusa's there was an address to the Underworld. Something DOA Recording Studios." Percy says.

"Give me a second." I say. I run up to a civilian sun-tanning on the beach.

"Excuse me, would you mind looking something up on Google Maps?" I ask. The woman looks a little annoyed, but hands me her phone. It's probably because of my adorable looks. I type in DOA Recording Studios and learn it's in West Hollywood, and I write down the address.

"Thank you!" I say to the woman and head back to Percy and Grover.

"It's in West Hollywood. I got the address. Let's take another taxi." I suggest. And we do.

Soon enough, we're in West Hollywood. I'm glad we already have the address because the place looks a little sketchy. We pass one place called _CRUSTY'S WATER BED PALACE. _It looked pretty ratchet. Can you imagine if we had to go in there for directions? That could've been messy.

Finally the taxi lets us out outside a building that read _DOA Recording Studios_. Underneath, on the glass doors, it read _No Soliciting, No Loitering, No Living._

"Okay. You remember the plan." Percy says.

"Yup." I say enthusiastically. I also have that rubber ball from the waterpark. Luckily I remember that detail from the book.

We walk into the DOA studio. Immediately I knew we were in the right place. There were people everywhere, and no one talked or moved. If I looked at someone out of the corner of my eye, they looked transparent. Percy walks up to the security guard's desk and starts talking to him.

Percy starts trying to convince him to let us into the Underworld. I can't focus though because one of the ghosts catches my eye. For some reason all the ghosts suddenly become active. This ghost also starts to move around and I can't get a good look at her. But I swear, she looks familiar. I'd recognize that hair, that nose, that little face that I encircled with flowers when she died. Rue, who I sang a final goodbye to. Maybe it is just my guilt driving me crazy, but the ghost is Rue's identical twin. With a heartbeat, I realize that I recognize another ghost that looked familiar. This one is wearing a white suit though.

"Come along." The security guard says. I follow Percy and Grover into the elevator with the man. When I look back, the two ghosts have both disappeared.

"What happens to the spirits waiting in the lobby?" I ask.

"Nothing."

"For how long?"

"Forever, or until I'm feeling generous."

"I thought hell was supposed to be in the _Underworld?_" I say. The man laughs.

"Supposed to be."

As we descend deeper into the Underworld, the elevator starts to transform into a boat.

"Aaaand, now we're on a Disney ride." I mutter. "Deeeead meen teeeeell nooo taaaaales." I moan. Grover shivers.

"Sorry. I just enjoyed that ride a lot." I explain.

We make it to the black shoreline. We walk up the path to the entrance, which looks rather like the Jersey Turnpike. The long lines remind me of Disney World.

"Maybe we really are going to Disney World!" I joke. My smile falls when I see Cerberus.

"He's a Rottweiler" Percy notices. The dog's middle head cranes toward us. It sniffs the air and growls.

"It can smell the living." Percy says.

"But that's okay," Grover says, trembling, "because we have a plan."

"Better." I say. "We have a rubber ball."

With that I dramatically take out the rubber ball, and march straight up to Cerberus.

"See the ball? You want the ball! Sit!" I say. I pray this works. I've only ever had cats. I think. I feel like I was probably a cat person. I'm worried Cerberus will think I'm a cat person too. _OOOOOHHH Wait a second…_Remember that time I was a cat? I really really REALLY hope that Cerberus doesn't remember that time I was a cat. It looks like Cerberus does smell cat on me but then he sits. Hallelujah.

"Good boy!" I say. I throw the ball. He catches it in his middle mouth. It is barely big enough for him to chew, and the other heads start snapping at the middle, trying to get the new toy.

"Drop it!" I order. The head's stop fighting and look at me. I try not to be afraid. (I hear dogs can smell fear). The ball is wedged between two of his teeth like a tiny piece of gum. He makes a loud, scary whimper, then drops the ball, now slimy and bitten nearly in half, at my feet.

"Good boy." I say. I pick up the ball, trying to ignore the monster spit all over it.

"Go now!" I yell at Percy and Grover. Cerberus starts to growl.

"Stay!" I say. "If you want the ball, stay!" Percy and Grover walk under Cerberus's stomach. They make it to the other side. Now I have to make it to the other side.

"Want the ball? Fetch!" I yell, and throw the ball as far away as I can. I then scamper off to follow Percy and Grover.

"That actually wasn't so bad." I say. We all push through the metal detector, and a million alarms start going off.

"Quick! Run!" I say. We race into the Underworld. A few minutes later, we are hiding, out of breath, in the rotten trunk of an immense black tree as security ghouls scuttled past, yelling for backup from the Furies.

Grover murmurs, "Well, Percy, what have we learned today?"

"That three-headed dogs like red rubber balls?"

"No," Grover says, "We've learned that your plans really, really bite!"

"Hahaha. _Bite. _I see what you did there." I laugh. "I have one. Who did the ghost take to the prom? His _ghoul_friend. Hahaha. Get it?"

"Ok, ok, but have you heard the one about why the skeleton couldn't play music in church?" Percy asks.

"Why?"

"Because he had no organs!" He says. We burst into laughter. We continue telling bad puns as we make our way to Hade's Palace.

"What's George Washington's ghost's favorite color combination?" Grover asks. "Red, white, and _boo_!"

"Hahaha. That's a good one. I'm writing that down." I say. Grover yelps. His sneakers sprout wings and his legs shoot forward, pulling him away from us. He lands flat on his back in the grass. I hit myself on my head. I completely forgot to make Grover take off the cursed shoes.

"Grover!"

"I'm not doing this!" He yells. His shoes are flapping like crazy now. They levitate off the ground and start dragging him away from us.

"_Maia!"_ He yells to no effect. "_Maia_, already! Nine-one-one! Help!"

"Take off the shoes!" I scream. Percy and I start running after Grover. He tries to untie the shoes, but it's rather difficult because he's being dragged by them at full speed. We get closer Hades Palace. Then his shoes veer sharply to the right. _Oh no. _I try to run faster. The slope has gotten steeper. Grover is picking up speed. We enter a narrow side tunnel.

"Grover!" Percy yells, his voice echoing in the tunnel. "Hold on to something!"

Suddenly, my toe hits a rock and I start tumbling down the slope. I hear more yelling from Grover and Percy as my face gets all scratched but by rocks. I roll into a big rock. The wind is knocked out of me.

"Annabeth! Are you alright?" Percy asks, helping me up. I give him a thumbs up, and motion for him to get Grover. I use the rock to help me up and start weakly running after them. They entered the huge dark cavern that the tunnel lead to. In the middle is a chasm the size of a city block. I catch up to them. Percy is frozen, staring at the chasm. Grover is sliding straight toward the edge.

"Come on, Percy!" I yell. But Grover was already inches away from the chasm. If I hadn't of fallen, we might have had a chance. We race to catch him, but he slips over the edge.

"Grover!" Percy yells, reaching his hand over the edge. He's close enough to fall in himself. I don't even know what I'm doing and I can barely breathe, but I instantaneously jump over the edge.

I whistle through the air, keeping my arms tight against my body for minimum friction. When I'm a few feet away from Grover, I reach out my arms to grab him. I hit him at full speed and encircle him with my arms so that he doesn't slip away. Once I'm sure that I have him safely secured, I unfurl my wings.

This sudden rush of air nearly rips off my wings. I scream in pain, but start to pull Grover up. It's hard work though. The air is heavier down here, and only gets heavier deeper into the chasm. It almost feels like the darkness of the chasm is pulling us in. I push my wings more forcefully. My heart pounds against my chest in a constant beat, almost like war drums. I'm breathing heavily. I think I can see the light of the cavern though.

_Lost child._

For a moment, I stop falling from sheer shock. Grover's screams wake me up though. I keep flying and try to pretend as if I didn't hear anything.

_You don't belong here. _

_I can get you home._

Ignore the voice. It's lying. There's no way it could know about my…predicament.

_But I do know. And I can help you. Just stop flying. Just relax. Just fall down. _The voice urges me, and my flying slows down. _Yes. Keep falling. _The darkness gets thicker and starts to envelope Grover and myself. _You can go home._

Home.

But I don't even remember home. Grover's yells begin to pierce the veil of the voice. I don't even know what home is. I can't abandon Grover and Percy to something I don't even know or remember.

_Home._

"Thank you very much, but I have enough voices in my head, _without yours. _So could you PLEASE SHUT IT!" I yell, and propel Grover and myself upwards. It feels as if dark tentacles are holding us back, but I keep flying.

_I can find your friend. Get you home_

"There is no home!" I yell the darkness.

_I can-_

The voice comes to an abrupt stop as Grover and I slash through the net of darkness that had been holding us down, and into the (relative) safety of the cavern. We crash-land beside Percy. I just stare up at the dark cavern ceiling, breathing heavily, stretching out my tired wings.

"We have to go." Percy says. I nod, and he helps me up. The three of us race out of the tunnel at top speed.

A cold blast of wind pulls at our backs, as if the entire pit is inhaling. I see Percy lose ground, his feet slipping in the gravel. If we'd been any closer to the edge, we would've been sucked in.

We keep struggling forward, and finally reach the top of the tunnel, where the cavern widens out. The wind dies. A wail of outrage echoes from deep in the tunnel.

"What _was _that?" Grover pants, when we'd collapsed in a black poplar grove. "One of Hades's pets?"

"Pfft. Yeah. The one that starts with a K and rhythms with Bronos." I say. Grover and Percy don't say anything.

"Let's keep going." Percy says. He looks at Grover. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah, sure. I never liked those shoes, anyway." He tries to sound brave about it, but he's trembling as badly as Percy and I. We start walking towards the palace of Hades.

"Annabeth?" Percy asks.

"At your service."

"In the pit, I heard you yelling…What did you mean, 'There is no home'?" Percy asks. I look away from him.

"Annabeth, ever since you got hurt at camp a few days before the capture the flag, you've seemed…off. Is everything ok?" Percy asks again. What do I say? Do I tell the truth? Would he even believe me? Would he still trust me?

"I, uh…it's just kind of hard to explain. Heck, I don't even know if you'd believe me!" I explain. Hades's Palace looms closer to us. I look back at Percy. "How about this? When we get back to camp, which I _know _we will, I promise that I'll tell you. I'll explain everything."

"Ok." Percy says. He seems troubled.

"Just know that you can still trust me. I promise." I say. Percy nods. It looks like he's about to say something else, but notices how close we are to the Palace. We had reached the main doors.

Two U.S. Marine skeletons guard the doors. They grin down at us, rocket-propelled grenade launchers held across their chests.

"You know," Grover mumbles, "I bet Hades doesn't have trouble with door-to-door salesmen."

"Well, guys," Percy says. "I suppose we should…knock?"

A hot wind blows down the corridor, and the doors swing open. The guards step aside.

"Mm. Doors that swing open themselves. How…welcoming." I mumble. We meekly walk inside.

Hades is at least ten feet tall and dressed in black silk robes and a crown of braided gold. His skin is albino white, his hair shoulder-length and jet black. He isn't bulked up like Ares, but he radiates power. He lounges on his thrones of fused human bones, looking lithe, graceful, and dangerous as a panther. I'm really wishing we had kept Medusa's head. It would be _very _useful right now.

"You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," he says in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

"Lord and Uncle, I come with two requests." Percy says. Hades raises an eyebrow. When he sits forward in his throne, shadowy faces appear in the folds of his black robes, faces of torment, as if the garment is stitched of trapped souls. It's every emo kid's dream.

"Only two requests?" Hades says. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

"Lord Hades," Percy says. "Look, sir, there can't be a war among the gods. It would be…bad."

"Really bad." Grover adds helpfully.

"Return Zeus's master bolt to me," Percy continues. "Please, sir. Let me carry it to Olympus."

Hades's eyes grow dangerously bright. "You dare keep up this pretense, after what you have done?"

Percy and Grover look very confused. I already know who actually stole the master bolt, but I try to look confused too.

"I think there's some kind of miscommunication. Maybe we should all explain what we think is going on." I suggest. The throne room shakes violently.

"Or not…I saw that on Doctor Phil one time." I explain, putting my hands up defensively.

"You _know _what happened. _You _were the thief on the winter solstice," he says. "Your father thought to keep you his little secret. He directed you into the throne room on Olympus. You took the master bolt _and_ my helm. Had I not sent my Fury to discover you at Yancy Academy, Poseidon might have succeeded in hiding his scheme to start a war. But now you have been forced into the open. You will be exposed as Poseidon's thief, and I will have my helm back!"

"Okay…_maybe_. But I think people are overlooking the fact that on the winter solstice, you had demigods visit from Camp Halfblood. Wouldn't it be a lot easier for one of them to steal your magic jewelry, instead of a kid no one knew about sneaking into Mount Olympus? And here's a crazy idea, _what if it's not one of the gods who's trying to start a war?_ (Except for maybe Ares). The gods do have a lot of enemies. Some of them who probably want to rise from the pits of Tartarus, if you get my drift." I suggest. Hades contemplates this for a moment.

"That's absurd. The girl is clearly out of her mind. Her fragile mortal mind must have snapped from the pressures of visiting the Underworld." Hades says. I scowl.

"You're as bad as Zeus," Percy says. "You think I stole from you? That's why you sent the Furies after me?"

"Of course." Hades says.

"And the other monsters?"

Hades curls his lip. "I had nothing to do with them. I wanted no quick death for you—I wanted you brought before me alive so you might face every torture in the Fields of Punishment. Why do you think I let you enter my kingdom so easily?"

"_Easily?"_

"Return my property!"

"But I don't have your helm. I came for the master bolt."

"Which you already possess!" Hades shouts. "You came here with it, little fool, thinking you could threaten me!"

"But I didn't!"

"Open your pack, then."

"Wait a second here." I say. "I don't think this is necessary. I think the best plan of action is to gather all the gods together and talk this out. Maybe we could ask the guards at the Empire State Building who entered Mount Olympus on or before the winter solstice."

But everyone ignores me. Percy slings the bag given by Ares off his shoulder and unzips it. I brace myself. This isn't going to be pretty. Inside is a two-foot-long metal cylinder, spikes on both ends, humming with energy.

"You heroes are always the same," Hades says. "Your pride makes you foolish, thinking you bring such a weapon before me. I did not ask for Zeus's master bolt, but since it is here, you will yield it to me. I am sure it will make an excellent bargaining tool. And now…my helm. Where is it?"

"Lord Hades, wat," Percy says. "This is all a mistake."

"A mistake?" Hades roars.

The skeletons aim their weapons. From high above, there is a fluttering of leathery wings, and the three Furies swoop down to perch on the back their master's throne. I notice they're covered in Nutella.

"There is no mistake," Hades says. "I know why you have come—I know the _real _reason you brought bolt. You came to bargain for _her._"

Hades loses a ball of gold fire from his palm. It explodes on the steps, and Percy's mother appears, frozen in a shower of gold.

"Yes," Hades says with satisfaction. "I took her. I knew, Percy Jackson that you would come to bargain with me eventually. Return my helm, and perhaps I will let her go. She is not dead, you know. Not yet. But if you displease me, that will change."

Percy contemplates this for a moment. I'm worried that he may actually give the master bolt to Hades for his mother.

"Ah, the pearls," Hades says. "Yes, my brother and his little tricks. Bring them forth, Percy Jackson." Percy obeys.

"Only three," Hades says. "What a shame. You do realize each only protects a single person. Try to take your mother, then, little godling. And which of your friend will you leave behind to spend eternity with me? Go on. Choose. Or give me the backpack and accept my terms."

I realize with a start that I'm the obvious choice for Percy to choose. After my suspicious behavior moments before, how does Percy even know he can trust me? Even worse though is the possibility that he may give Hades the master bolt.

"Leave me here." I volunteer. It makes the most sense. I don't know how much more help I can be. Plus, I can probably (hopefully) jump to another book soon enough. While it may be an eternity for someone else, it should only be a day or two for me (fingers crossed).

"No. Leave me." Grover chimes in. "I'm a satyr. We don't have souls like humans do. He can torture me until I die, but he won't get me forever. I'll just be reincarnated as a flower or something. It's the best way."

"Stop it, both of you!" Percy yells. "I know what to do. Take these."

He hands us each a pearl.

"Percy…"

"I'm sorry," Percy says to his mother. "I'll be back. I'll find a way."

This is breaking my heart. I get some satisfaction from seeing the smug look on Hades's face a fade. He says, "Godling…?"

"I'll find your helm, Uncle," Percy tells him. "I'll return it. And Charon wants a pay raise."

"Do not defy me—"

"And it wouldn't hurt to play with Cerberus once in a while. He likes red rubber balls."

"Percy Jackson, you will not—"

Percy shouts, "Now, guys!"

We smash the pearls at our feet. For a scary moment, nothing happens.

Hades yells, "Destroy them!"

His army of skeletons rushes forward, swords out, guns clicking to full automatic. The Furies lunge, their whips bursting into flames.

Just as the skeletons open fires, the pearl fragments at my feet explode with burst of green light and a gust of fresh sea wind. We're each encased in a milky white sphere, which was starting to float off the ground. Spears and bullets spark harmlessly off the pearl bubbles as we float up. I force myself to not poke the bubble to see if it'd pop.

"Look up!" Grover yells. "We're going to crash!"

We're racing right towards some stalactites. We all scream as the bubbles slam into the ceiling and…Darkness.

"Great. We're dead." I mutter. I take my words back as we suddenly appear on the sea floor. We continue to float up. We explode on the surface, in the middle of the Santa Monica Bay, knocking a surfer off his board with an indignant, "Dude!"

We swim over to a life buoy. A curious shark start encircling us, a great white about eleven feet long.

"Beat it." Percy says. The shark turns and races away. The surfer screams something about bad mushrooms and paddles away from us as fast as he could.

"So, who's ready to kick Ares's butt?" I ask. The looks on Percy's and Grover's faces tell me that they are all on board.

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	36. Chapter 36

**Yall have been doing a totally supercalafagalicticwhatverlongsuperlativewordforbasicallykeepupthegoodwork. You give me life. And as a little gift for being just so awesome, here's another chapter.**

Sure enough, Ares is waiting for us on the beach.

"Hey, kid." He says, seeming genuinely pleased to see us. "You were supposed to die."

"You tricked me," Percy says. "_You _stole the helm and the master bolt."

Ares grins. "Well, now, I didn't steal them personally. Gods taking each other's symbols of power—that's a big no-no. But you're not the only hero in the world who can run errands."

"Who did you use? Clarisse? She was there at the winter solstice." Percy says.

"_Luke _*cough*cough*" I say.

"Doesn't matter." Ares says. "The point is, kid, you're impeding the war effort."

"Oh god. He's _monologuing." _I moan.

"See you've got to die in the Underworld. Then Old Seaweed will be mad at Hades for killing you. Corpse Breath will have Zeus's master bolt, so Zeus'll be made at _him_. And Hades is still looking for this…"

From his pocket he takes out a ski cap—the kind bank robbers wear—and placed it between the handlebars of his bike. Immediately, the cap transforms into an elaborate bronze war helmet. Hmm…I reach into my pocket and fish around for the item I'm looking for.

"The helm of darkness." Grover gasps. Ares looks at Grover. Now's my chance.

"Exactly," Ares says. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, Hades will be mad at both Zeus and Poseidon, because he doesn't know who took this. Pretty soon, we got a nice little three-way slugfest going." Grover notices me disappear. I think he knows my plan.

"But they're your family!" Grover says to keep Ares attention. It works. Ares is still distracted. I sneak towards my target.

"Best kind of war. Always the bloodiest. Nothing like watching your relatives fight, I always."

"You gave me the backpack in Denver," Percy says. "The master bolt was in there the whole time."

"Yes and no," Ares says. "It's probably too complicated for little mortal brain to follow, but the backpack is the master bolt's sheath, just morphed a bit. The bolt is connected to it, sort of like that sword you got, kid. It always returns to your, right?"

My hand curls around the helm of darkness.

"Anway," Ares continues, "I tinkered with the magic a bit, so the bolt would only return to the sheath once you reached the Underworld. You get close to Hades…Bingo, you got mail. If you died along the way—no loss. I still had the weapon.

"But why not just keep the master bolt for yourself?" Percy says. He catches onto my plan too. "Why send it to Hades?"

Ares gets a twitch in his jaw. For a moment, it is almost as if he is listening to another voice, deep inside his head. Hmm. I wonder who _that _could be. "Why didn't I…yeah…with that kind of firepower…" Then his face clears.

"I didn't want the trouble. Better to have you caught redhanded, holding the thing."

"You're lying." Percy says. "Sending the bolt to the Underworld wasn't your idea, was it?"

"Of course it was!" Smoke drifts up from his sunglasses as if they were about to catch fire.

"You didn't order the theft," Percy guesses. "Someone else sent a hero to steal the two items. Then, when Zeus sent you to hunt him down, you caught the thief. But you didn't turn him over to Zeus. Something convinced you to let him go. You kept the items until another hero could come along and complete the delivery. That thing in the pit is ordering you around."

"I am the god of war! I take orders from no one! I don't have dreams!"

Percy hesitates. "Who said anything about dreams?"

Ares looks agitated. Then he looks around.

"Where did the chick go?" He asks. He turns to discover the helm of darkness is gone. I take off the Yankee baseball cap and reappear next to Percy and Grover.

"Looking for this?" I ask, taunting him with the helm of darkness. "And this 'chick' has a name and does not like to be referred to as 'chick'." Fire flashes across Ares's face.

"I'm going to have fun pulverizing you punks." He says. He snaps his fingers. The sand explodes at his feet and out charges a wild boar. Percy steps into the surf.

"Fight me yourself, Ares."

Ares laughs, but there a little edge to his laughter.

"You've only got one talent, kid, running away. You ran from the Chimera."

"Actually, we took care of the Chimera." I point out, but I'm ignored as usual.

"You ran form the Underworld. You don't have what it takes."

"Scared?"

"In your adolescent dreams. No direct involvement. Sorry, kid. You're not at my level."

The boar charges at Percy.

He uncaps his pen and sidesteps. Riptide appears in his hands. He slashes upwards. The boar's severed right tusk falls to the sand, while the disoriented animal charges into the sea.

"Wave!" Percy shouts. Immediately, a wave surges up from nowhere and engulfs the boar, wrapping around it like a blanket.

"It's a pig in a blanket." I joke. The beast squeals once in terror. Then it's gone, swallowed by the sea. _Damn_. Percy turns back to Ares.

"Are you going to fight me now? Or are you going to hide behind another pet pig?"

"How would you like to get smashed: classic or modern?" Ares asks. Percy shows him his sword. "That's cool, dead boy. Classic it is."

The baseball bat changes into a huge, two-handed sword. The hilt is a large silver skull with a ruby in its mouth. Ares cleaves downward at Percy's head, but he's gone. He catapults over him, slashes as he comes down. But Ares is just as quick. He twists and the strike that should've caught him directly in the spine is deflected off the end of his sword hilt. He grins.

"Not bad, not bad." He slashes again and Percy is forced to jump onto dry land. I want to help, but I know that this is Percy's fight. I've seen him do a lot over the past few days, and I know he's capable of handling this. He tries to sidestep, to get back to the water, but Ares knows what he's trying to do. Then Percy steps inside with a thrust, but Ares is waiting for this. He knocks his blade out of his hands and hicks him in the chest. He goes flying—twenty, maybe thirty feet. Then I notice the police have arrived.

"Percy! The cops!" I yell. I don't know if he hears me. He's too busy rolling to one side as Ares's blade slashes the sand. Percy runs for his sword, scoops it up, and launches another swipe at Ares's face, only to find the blade deflected again. Ares seems to know exactly what he's going to do the moment before he does it.

Percy steps back toward the surf, forcing him to follow. I think I understand what he's trying to do. I hope it works.

"Admit it, kid," Ares says. "You got no hope. I'm just toying with you."

Percy steps farther into the water, but Ares was fast. The tip of his blade rips Percy's sleeve and grazes his forearm.

A police voice on a megaphone says, "Drop the guns! Set them on the ground. Now!"

'This is a private matter!" Ares bellows. "Be gone!"

He sweeps his hand, and a wall of red flame rolls across the patrol cars. The police barely have time to dive for cover before their vehicles explode. The crowd that has gathered behind them scatters, screaming.

Ares roars with laughter. "Now, little hero. Let's add you to the barbecue."

He slashes. Percy deflects the blade. He gets close enough to strike, tries to fake him out with a feint, but the blow is knocked aside. The waves are hitting him in the back now. Ares is up to this thighs, wading in after Percy. I'm anxiously biting my lip. I notice the waves seem to retreat. Percy lowers his blade, as if he's too exhausted to go on. _Please be faking, please be faking._

Ares raises his sword. Suddenly, the tide comes shooting out, splashing over Ares. Percy jumps onto a wave and rockets straight past Ares. He's disoriented now. Percy feints toward his head, like before. Now he wasn't anticipating it though. Percy changes direction, lunges to the side, and stabs Riptide straight down into the water, sending the point through the god's heel.

Ares lets out a deafening roar. I cover my ears. My body is actually pushed back by the animalistic noise. Ichor, the golden blood of the gods, flows from a gash in the war god's boots. The expression on his face is beyond hatred. It is pain, shock, complete disbelief that he'd been wounded.

He limps toward Percy, muttering ancient Greek curses. I get ready to join the fight, deciding I couldn't let Percy die. Then he stops. Or rather, something stops him. He lowers his sword.

"You have made an enemy, godling," He tells Percy. "You have sealed your fate. Every time you raise your blade in battle, every time you hope for success, you will feel my curse. Beware, Perseus Jackson. Beware." His body begins to glow.

"Percy!" I shout. "Don't watch!"

Percy turns away, and I shield my eyes. The lights dies. Ares is gone. Percy walks over to Grover and myself. I hand him the helm of darkness.

"That was wickedly badass." I say.

I hear the flapping of leathery wings. Three Nutella-covered evil-looking grandmother with lace hats and fiery whips drift down from the sky and land in front of us.

"We saw the whole thing," The one in the middle hisses. "So…it truly was not you?"

Percy tosses her the helmet, which she catches in surprise.

"Return that to Lord Hades," He says. "Tell him the truth. Tell him to call off the war."

She hesitates, then runs a forked tongue over her green, leathery lips that are still covered in Nutella. "Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero. Because if you do not, if you ever come into my clutches again…" She cackles. Then she turns to me.

"Do you have any more of that…what was it?"

"Nutella? No. But you can get it by the pound at Costco." I tell her. She smiles happily before flying off with her two sister.

"We have to get back to New York." Percy says. "By tonight."

"Are you suggesting…?" I ask. Percy nods.

"Fly. Like an airplane?" I verify. Percy nods again. "This'll be fun."

I don't want to describe the "fun" experience that is that horrible plane flight to New York. I never want to see another salted peanut in my life. _*shudder* _I'd much rather have flown with my wings, but we'd have never gotten to New York in time.

Yet the worst part of the entire ordeal is seeing the Empire State Building again. I'm inundated with painful memories and guilt. I shut the window blinds and stuff my face into a _Skymall© _and wait for it to end. Relief washes through me when I can finally step on solid ground again.

"Now we get a taxi to the Empire State Building." I say.

"I think you and Grover should go back to camp to tell Chiron what happened." Percy says.

"But Percy, how can we leave you after all that's happened?" Grover asks.

"I'll be okay Grover. But someone needs to let Chiron know what happened to us and who was really behind the theft." Percy explains. Grover nods, but looks upset. I bit my lip. I feel guilty letting Percy go by himself, but deep down I don't think I'm capable of going to the Empire State Building. Plus, I think after my little "outburst" at the waterpark it'd be brash to visit the gods.

"If that's what you want, Percy." I agree. "We'll let Chiron know you're okay and you have the bolt…But Percy before you go…"

"Yeah?"

"I wanted to thank you. Back when we were in the Underworld, you had no reason to trust me. You could have easily left me there and taken yourself and Grover home, and honestly, I would have totally understood…but you didn't. So thank you."

"You've had my back this entire quest. You'll always have my trust." Percy says with a genuine smile. I bite my lip.

"I hope you still feel that way when I'm done…I owe you an explanation." I brace myself. "I'm not Annabeth. Ever since that one night when I was found unconscious with a wound on my arm I haven't been…This is hard to explain but where I'm from this is all a story. A story in a book. And I'm still not quite sure how it happened but I got trapped in here and I can't get out and all I can do is pretend as if I'm someone I'm not and I probably should have told you when I first met you but I knew you would never believe me because, I'll be honest, this sounds crazy, because it is crazy! But you have to believe me because it's true."

Okay…so not my finest moment. I got a little excited I suppose. I stare at Percy and Grover trying to gauge what their thinking. Percy scrunches his brow for a moment. I tense in anticipation. Oh god. _What if they tell the gods? What if they smite me?_ I'm regretting making that heated speech about how shitty the gods are at ruling. At least I'll go out with a bang, ey?

Suddenly, Percy's expression changes. His face relaxes and he laughs. He actually laughs. I frown. I think this is worse.

"Annabeth, or whoever you are, I have no idea what you just said…but I meant what I said before. You'll always have my trust, and you still do."

"I don't care who you are, I'd trust you with my life." Grover agrees.

"…You have literally _zero _reasons to trust me." I say. Then I remember who I'm talking to. This is _Percy Jackson_, the kid who would trust their life savings with the hobo on the street if he smiled at him nicely. He's also the kid that trusts Luke, and (having actually read this series for once) that basically stopped the apocalypse. So I relent. I give both him and Grover tight hugs. It's probable I'll be jumping to the next book soon and I won't see them again…ever. Tears start to well up in my eyes.

"Grover, I think I might be allergic to you." I joke when I pull back. I wipe a tear from my eye.

"I'll see you when I get back to camp." Percy says.

"And who knows?" Percy says. "Maybe Chiron knows a way to get you home!"

I nod, and quickly turn away before I completely break down. With that, Grover and I start back to camp.

"Grover! Annabeth! I'm so relieved to see you!" Chiron greets us on the hill at Camp Half-Blood. "Where's Percy? Is he alright?"

"He's giving the bolt back to Zeus as we speak." Grover explains.

"You did it. I'm so proud of you all." Chiron says, smiling ear to ear. I can only manage a small twitch at the lips.

"I should probably go put my stuff away." I say, making an excuse to get some alone time. The camp seems eerily empty. As if it became a ghost town while we were gone. Everyone must be playing capture the flag in the woods. I knock on the Athena cabin's door. No one opens it. I go in and collapse on Annabeth's bed.

"Tired?" A voice asks. "I suppose you are entitled after the past few days you've had. Retrieving bolts, killing monsters, stopping wars…" I sit up and rub my temples.

"I knew this was too easy." I say out loud. The blonde teenager lounging on one of the other beds in front of me laughs. For a second I think its Luke, but I don't know this kid. "Are you one of the Hermes kids?"

"Hahaha." The teenager laughs harder. "I _am _Hermes."

My jaw drops.

"I-um, I was really angry when I said all those things about the Olympians. I wasn't thinking (although that doesn't mean I'm wrong)…At least smite me quickly, okay?" I beg. Hermes just keeps smiling.

"I'm not here to smite you. I actually enjoyed your outburst." He says. Then he stops and just looks at me. It feels like he's examining me. I'm feeling very uncomfortable.

"Then why are you here?" I ask.

"I think the better question is why are _you _here?" He asks me, his smile completely gone. I nearly choke, even though I'm not drinking anything.

"I'm a daughter of Athena, and this is the Athena cabin." I say. I involuntarily check outside the window for the other campers. No sign of anyone. I look back at Hermes and silence permeates the room. Hermes finally talks.

"You're not a daughter of Athena, and you're not Annabeth. Perhaps none of the other Olympians could see this, not even your mother, but I noticed as soon as you woke up in the infirmary something was off. And my suspicions were confirmed after you confessed to your friends…I've been looking out for more of your kind. I've seen you before. But I want to know what you are and what you're doing here." Hermes explains. I purse my lips.

"Promise you won't smite me?" I ask.

"I promise. I don't like smiting people. That's more Zeus's style. And I didn't catch your real name." He says. I look down.

"I don't remember it." I say. Hermes slowly nods his head, thinking about this.

"Alright. I'm not Annabeth. I'm just a normal person. It's kind of a long story, but you're in a book. This entire world is a story from a book. And I got stuck in that book. Everyone thinks I'm Annabeth, so I have no choice but to become Annabeth. I don't want to mess everything up, that just sort of…accidentally happens." I finish. Hermes ponders this.

"A book you say? Interesting." Hermes says.

"Does this mean you'll let me live?" I ask.

"Better. I'm going to help you get out."

"W-wwwaaaaaaaaait. What."

"I am the god of travel. I go to the Underworld on a regular basis, and can transverse realms. I should be able to get you out of our world and back into yours." Hermes offers. My mouth falls to the floor. "There's a war coming, and we can't have you twisting fate."

"Oh my god."

"Gods"

"Right, uh, sorry. Oh my gods. Thank you. Thank you! You have no idea what this would mean to me! And wait until I tell Nemooooo wait a second…" I trail off. This is my opportunity to get out and return home. Nemo still hasn't shown up yet. I can't leave him, but how long will it be until I get home? For all I know time could pass differently in the Library. I could have been here for months, years, decades even! A few more weeks could make a huge difference…but Nemo.

"Why have you gone quiet?" Hermes asks.

"My friend, Nemo, is also here with me. He disappeared a few days ago and I haven't seen him since. I'm more than a little worried. I…I can't abandon him here." I say. Hermes looks dejected.

"Very well. If that's what you truly want. But the offer remains if you ever change your mind."

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I say. It looks like Hermes is still thinking about something.

"Is there something else that worrying you besides your friend missing? Is there some reason he would be in danger?" He asks. I sigh.

"Yeah. There are these "Editor" people who stop people like Nemo and I. I'm worried they may have gotten Nemo."

"What do the Editors look like?"

"They wear these stereotypical white armor suit things that you'd find in a Sci-Fi movie."

"Like the suits of the men talking to Chiron right now?" Hermes says.

"What?!" I ask. I rush to the window, and sure enough, there they are.

"Shiiiiiiit." I moan. "I'll have to jump."

"Jump?"

"Yeah. Jump to the next story. It's how we escape the Editors. Hermes, can you do me a favor? How good are you are distractions?"

"I'll try my best."

"Thank you. You're officially my favorite god." I say. I suddenly feel bad for treating Luke, Hermes's son, so poorly. "And for the record, Luke is really cool. You've done a good job."

Hermes smiles genuinely and proudly. It breaks my heart how much he cares for Luke and how broken their relationship is. My remark doesn't remedy how I treated him. Yet another reason why I'm a horrible person. Please forgive me Rue, for the thousandth time. Then the Editors start to pound furiously on the door to the cabin.

"That's my queue." I say. I close my eyes, reach for the closet door, and turn the knob. I take a step forward into the scary unknown. I hear yelling and then silence from behind me. When I open my eyes, the cabin and Hermes are gone.

I'm sitting in a car. A ratchet old truck.

"Ew." I climb out. I'm in a parking lot, it looks like the parking lot of a school. Sure enough I see a sign over the building, _Forks High School_.

"Forks? That's a stupid name for a town." I say out loud. I've never heard of any town named after a utensil before. I head towards the school because that seems like a good place to get answers.

"Happy Birthday Bella!" A jovial voice cheers. I turn to see a girl and a boy standing next to a polished silver Volvo. They both have the same pale skin, their eyes have a strange golden tint and they were both startlingly beautiful. As the sun peeks out from behind a cloud, I swear I can see them start to glitter. You heard me. _Glitter. _

Wait a second. GLITTTER? BELLA? OH GOD NOOOOO.

Before I can stop myself, I start screaming hysterically. I turn and run back to the truck. The piece of junk finally turns on. I slam my foot on the gas pedal and race out of the parking lot.

About three things I am absolutely positive. First, Edward is a vampire. Second, I absolutely hate _Twilight _with all my soul and everything that its stand for and would rather die a slow painful horrible death than have to endure this book. And third, I am unconditionally and irrevocably convinced that I need to get out of here _asap_.

**Who's ready for twilllliiiiiiiiight? **

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	37. Chapter 37

I'm not sure how I found my way there, but the truck comes to a screeching halt in front of Bella's house. I'm hyperventilating. _Just focus, get out of here, and everything will be fine._ Okay, do a quick search of the house, grab everything that could come in handy, and then I'm gone. Like the wind. Like a shadow. No traces left behind. Except for everything I stole…

But it's not really stealing. Afterall, I _am_ Bella Swan. I shudder. I'm trying to make myself feel better, not worse.

_Just focus on finding helpful things to help you run away from Edward and this horrible town._

"Money. Money could be nice" I say out loud as I spot Bella's purse on the counter. My plan is simple. Run away and get as far away from those crazy vampires and Forks, Washington as possible. I'm thinking Moscow. I hear Russia's nice this time of year. And I'm sure the Cullens wouldn't be insane enough to follow Bella across the globe...or would they?

I shudder the thought away and stuff a loaf of bread into a bag. I figure with some nutella I can ration it to last me the entire trip. Or maybe a day or two. I'm pretty hungry.

"Are you that upset about your birthday?" I hear Alice's cheerful voice behind me. I spin around. She's leaning across the counter. She seems to mock me with that joyful smile. I frown at her.

"It's not my _birthday _I'm upset about…" I mumble to myself.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. So, do you want to open your present now or later?" She asks eagerly. I narrow my eyes suspiciously.

"No presents." I say. She pouts.

"Okay...later than." She says. "Come on, Edward is waiting outside. You wouldn't want to be late for your own birthday party."

Hang on. Didn't Bella despise her birthday? Why would she agree to let the Cullens throw her a party?

"I don't want a party." I say. Alice just laughs.

"Oh, be fair, Bella!" She complains. "You aren't going to ruin all our fun like that, are you?"

Wow. These people are so considerate of other people's feelings. An idea pops into my head.

"You're absolutely right." I say. Alice beams up at me. "I was being selfish, thinking only about _myself _on _my birthday. _Let me just go upstairs and change into something nicer."

Alice nods happily, now that she's getting her way. She doesn't notice me bring my backpack with me as I slip upstairs. I get into Bella's room and lock the door. Then I move to the window, which is already unlocked (probably from one of Edward's creepy night stalking rendezvouses). I roll my eyes and start to climb out the window. A smile creeps across my face as the ground gets closer. I jump off the wall.

Then cold, unexpected arms catch me before I can land. They latch on tightly and refuse to let go. My feet don't touch the ground. I look up in horror to find its Edward who has caught me, and is now holding me bridal style. I try not to cry.

"Ready for your party?" He asks, gazing down at me intently with his unsetting liquid topaz eyes. Eyes should not be that color! It's very unnatural.

"Don't you ever blink?!" I ask him after several seconds of his uncomfortable staring. He blinks in confusion.

"Aren't you going to put me down?" I ask impatiently. He sets me down and I brush off my pants.

"Bella!" Alice yells down from the window. A second later, she's standing right in front of me. I yelp.

"Jeez! You can't just do that to a person." I say. She puts her hands on her hips. Her smug smile has disappeared, only to be replaced by an angry glare.

"This can be easy, or this can be hard, Bella, but one way or the other-" She threatens. My eyes involuntarily widen. Jeez, these people are supposed to be Bella's _friends?_ They seem more like overpowering helicopter moms to me.

"Relax, Alice…" Edward says. Wow, is Edward actually _speaking up for me?_ "She's just antsy about her birthday."

I frown. _These people and their strange obsession with Bella's birthday. _I suppress the urge to walk back upstairs if only to chuck myself out the window again.

"Edward-" I begin, but Edward cuts me off.

"Let's discuss it later. We're going to be late for your party." He says, pressing one cool finger to my lips. My eye twitches. He's worse than Raoul (if that's even possible). I brush his hand away from my mouth.

"Maybe we'll discuss _now_ because communication is key to the success of a relationship. Not that this forced show of clichéd romance lines is much of a relationship. But understand this: I am a person. I am entitled to my own feelings and opinions, even if they are different from yours! So enough with the condescending attitude because I am not a three year old. I am a strong independent woman who you cannot simply command around like a trained show dog!" I say furiously. My hands rest on my hips defiantly, waiting for Edward's response.

"Understood. So would this strong independent woman like to change before her birthday party or is she going to wear that?" He asks innocently. My hands fall. I'm honestly hurt. He barely even acknowledged my rant! At least Raoul _pretended _to listen.

"Come on, Bella. Before your birthday is over." He jokes. He takes my hand and starts to lead me towards the car (as if I couldn't _find it myself_). I just angrily brood to myself. I can see there's only one option here. I have to go to this stupid birthday party. I'm going to keep my eyes open for a chance to slip away though.

When we get to the car, I viciously go to the driver's side and hiss, "I'm driving."

"But Bella-" Edward starts, but the look of pure hatred I give him shuts him up. For the moment.

I climb in and turn the classic rock station up to max volume before Edward can start a conversation.

"Wow, this isn't really your usually station…" He starts. I turn the volume up and pretend not to hear him as we drive to his house. Its clear communication is not going to work. Edward presses his lips together to keep from smiling. He seems to think I am being playful. I resist the urge to puke out the window. When I park in front of his house, he reaches over to take my face in his hands before I can pull away.

"You should be in a good mood, today of all days." he whispers. His breath fans across my face. I recoil.

"And you should respect my right to feel however I like." I say. His golden eyes smolder.

"Too bad."

...What...Is that a threat? I'm a little concerned now. Edward leans closer, but before I can anticipate his move, he presses his icy lips against mine. It's like making out with an ice pop, minus all the delicious flavor. I shiver. Edward seems to take that as a good sign. I pull back before I get hypothermia. Shouldn't this be considered pedophilia because Edward is over a hundred years old and Bella is barely eighteen? I shudder again and try to erase the thought from my mind.

"I thought you said we were already late to the party?" I ask.

"I was lying." Edward smiles at me. I don't smile back. He finally takes notice. "Bella, is something wrong?"

"Nope. Everything is just peachy perfect." I grumble.

"Bella, I couldn't live if you were upset." He explains. I roll my eyes.

"Sucks you became a vampire then. I'm pretty sure you can't kill yourself." I say. You'd think Edward would know this as a vampire himself.

"Well...last spring, when you were...nearly killed." Edward pauses to take a deep breath, struggling to return to his teasing tone. Suddenly images flash across my mind of a vampire with a sadistic smile in a mirrored room, Edward killing him, him biting into my, I mean, Bella's wrist. I stare down at the crescent-shaped scar that has appeared on my hand that I swear hadn't been there a moment ago. "Of course I was trying to focus on finding you alive, but part of my mind was making contingency plans. It's not as easy for me as it is for a human."

"Contingency plans?"

"Well, I wasn't going to live without you." He rolls his eyes as if that fact were childishly obvious. "But I wasn't sure how to do it - I knew Emmett and Jasper would never help… so I was thinking maybe I would go to Italy and do something to provoke the Volturi."

"Volturi? Is that a pasta?" I ask.

"The Volturi are a family." Edward says, laughing at me. "A very old, very powerful family of our kind. They are the closest thing our world has to a royal family, I suppose. Carlisle lived with them briefly in his early years, in Italy, before he settled in America- do you remember the story?"

I'm painfully aware of this none-too-subtle foreshadowing going on here, but I could care less. I doubt Carlisle's life story is really going to be that important to the plot.

"Yeah, sure." I say.

"Anyway, you don't irritate the Volturi," Edward says. "Not unless you want to die- or whatever it is we do."

"Suicide is never an option." I say. I don't like Edward, but that doesn't mean he should kill himself...even if he is just a fictional character. "I'd have to slap you if you killed yourself for me."

"Bella, can you do me a favor?" Edward asks, changing the subject. "Bella, the last real birthday any of us had was Emmett in 1935" _...what…_ "Cut us a little slack, and don't be too difficult tonight. They're all very excited."

Hmm. So, I should stand there and look pretty and do what I'm told. Fat chance.

"Oh. Don't worry. I'll be a perfect little angel." I lie.

With that, we head into the house. I realize with horror that I can't remember all the Cullens' names. Uh oh. There's Alice...Jasmine? No sorry, Jasper. Rosemary. Emmett. Carly. And the mom. Close enough I guess. I'll just try not to use names. They are all waiting in the huge white living room. When I walk through the door, they greet me with a loud chorus of "Happy birthday, Bella!" while I force a smile. Alice has covered every flat surface with pink candles and dozens of crystal bowls filled with hundreds of roses. There's a table with a white cloth draped over it next to Edward's grand piano, holding a pink birthday cake, more roses, a stack of glass plates, and a small pile of silver-wrapped presents. It's overkill.

Edward wraps an arm around my waist and kisses the top of my head. I bite my cheek to stop myself from slapping him away.

"Sorry about this, Bella." The blonde dad vampire says. I think his name is the one that starts with a C. "We couldn't rein Alice in."

I exchange pleasantries with the other vampires. I notice one of them is keeping his distance. He's leaning, long and blond, against the post at the foot of the stairs. I think he's Jasper, the newest vampire. He must still be getting over the whole "blood" thing.

"Time to open presents" Alice declares. I hope one of them is a cat. Or a puppy. Or a pony. Or all three. Anything to make this worthwhile.

I analyze the presents and grab one that looks promising. I tear off the paper, and open it.

"It's...nothing." I say, kind of very confused.

"It's a stereo for you truck." Jasper explains. "Emmett's installing it right now so that you can't return it."

"Wow. Thanks for taking my opinion into consideration." I say. Everyone laughs, apparently missing my sarcasm.

"Open mine and Edward's next." Alice says, handing me a small flat square. I take it. It's definitely not a pony.

I start to open the little package.

"Oh fudgesticks." I mutter when the paper slices my finger. A single drop of blood oozes from the miniscule cut. Honestly, I can barely see it without a microscope. But suddenly Edward roars as Jasper runs towards me.

I move without thinking, my instincts taking over. Edward throws himself at me, ready to push me out of Jasper's way, but instead I dodge him. Edward flails face first into the cake. I stand just in time to see Jasper run straight towards me. I can feel everything I've learned from Mortal Instruments, Maximum Ride, Warriors, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and Percy Jackson surge into action. My hands come up to block Jasper's attack. I swipe his hands out of the way, and knee him in the gut. When he leans forward in response to my gut hit, I punch him in the face. He tumbles backward, but catches himself. As he runs forward for another attack, I kneel down and instead propel him over me, and flip him upside down. He lands on Edward and they crash into the table, shattering the glass and sending cake and flowers scattering everywhere.

"Not the cake…" I mumble. Jasper moans. I feel a little bad for hurting him, but he was trying to kill me. Everyone looks at me in shock.

"Call it cat-like reflexes?" I joke. Emmett grabs the disoriented Jasper. Edward gets up shakily.

"B-Bella are you okay?" He asks. Pieces of cake speckle his hair. His words are a little slurred. I hope I didn't give him a concussion. Can vampires get concussions?

"Emmett, Rose, get Jasper outside." Carlisle says. They obey him, and pick up the close to unconscious Jasper.

"I'm so sorry Bella." The mom vampire says. I think her name's Emily. Or Esmerelda. Or Esme. Something like that.

"It's okay. I'm actually fine." I explain. "I feel bad for breaking your table. And possibly giving two people concussions."

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" Alice asks. Uh oh.

"Well. Um. It was actually after that last experience I had with that other vampire, the one that tried to kill me." I lie. "I decided I should learn some basic self-defense, and it looks like it worked!"

Edward's face is like stone. I can't tell if it's because of what just happened or simply because he doesn't like the idea of Bella doing something as independent and free willed as learning self-defense.

"Alice, could you go check on Jasper?" Carlisle asks. Alice nods and leaves.

"Sorry about the cake...and the table." I say.

"It's not your fault." Carlisle says comfortingly. There's an uncomfortable silence. Then Alice returns.

"How's Jasper?" I ask.

"He's very unhappy with himself. It's all so much more of a challenge for him, and he hates feeling weak." Alice sighs.

"I'm not mad at him, if that makes him feel any better." I say. "Although he does owe me a new cake!"

No one laughs at my joke. What a sober group.

"The cake is demolished, so I guess the party's over? I'll just take my leave." I say, relieved to finally have an excuse to leave early. When I get to the door, Edward is waiting for me. He holds the front door open without a word.

"Take your things!" Alice cries as I walk out. She scoops up the two unharmed packages. "You can thank me later, when you've opened them."

"Thanks." I say, and take the presents. Edward and I make our way to the car. I slip into the driver's seat, and throw the presents in the back. I eye the new stereo. There's a big red ribbon on it. I pull it off. Edward silently sits down in the passenger's seat. He makes no attempt to start conversation. I'm not one to sit in silence, so I turn the new stereo on.

_"__I stay up too late. Got nothing in my brain."_

I nod my head along to the wise words of TayTay Swifty. Edward doesn't flinch. I frown. Not that I like the guy, in fact I think he's a huge misogynistic douche, but the deep goodness of my heart refuses to let me sit around doing nothing while someone is upset. I know, I'm _such _a saint. No need to thank me.

"_Cause the players gonna play, play, play" _I sing along. "_And the haters gonna hate, hate, hate. Baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake, shake it off"_

I nudge Edward and give him a little smile. Still nothing. He's a wall of icy annoyance. But that's never gotten in my way.

_"__Heartbreakers gonna break, break, break and the fakers gonna fake, fake, fake baby I'm just gonna shake, shake, shake it off! Shake it off!" _

Edward just glares at the dashboard. I roll my eyes. _What a drama queen. _The song comes to an end as we reach Bella's driveway. Edward and I get out without a word to each other. This is getting pretty awkward. If "Shake it Off" didn't make him feel better, then there's nothing I can do for him. I'll just let him wallow in sadness.

"Thanks for the exciting party. Have a good night." I say and start to walk towards the door.

"You can't have it both ways-either you want people to ignore your birthday or you don't. One or the other." He says. I raise my eyebrow.

"Excuse _me_ Mr. SnappyMcSassypants. I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to say thank you for forcing me into a party and nearly getting me killed." I say. "If you don't have anything else _cheeky _to say, I'll just carry my presents upstairs and go to sleep."

"I'll carry them." He says, clearly feeling a little bad for his outburst. "I'll be in your room."

I roll my eyes. So creepy. I turn and walk inside. The TV is on and Bella's dad, Charlie, is watching it.

"Bell?"

"Hey dad."

"How was it?"

"Alright. The conversation was a little lacking, but besides that…" With that I head upstairs. I walk into Bella's room, and sure enough, there's Edward. He's sitting in the center of the bed, toying idly with one of the silver boxes.

"Hi." He says. His voice is sad. He's wallowing. I yawn. _How much longer is this going to go on for?_ I just want to sleep.

"Are you going to open your presents?" He asks.

"Well, since you went through the trouble of carrying them upstairs, I might as well." I shrug and open the first one.

"They're tickets to Jacksonville." Edward explains.

"Oh my goodness!" I feign excitement. _What's in Jacksonville? _"Oh wow, and there's a ticket for you too…"

"That's the idea."

"I can't believe it." I say half-heartedly.

"If I'd had any idea that you could respond to a gift this appropriately, I would have made you open it in front of Carlisle and Esme."

I stare at Edward. At this point I'm starting to think maybe _he's _the incredibly sarcastic one and it's so far past my level that I'm completely missing it. Or maybe I'm a better actress than I realize. I put the tickets down and open the next present. It's a CD.

"What is it?" I ask. Edward takes it and starts playing it in the CD player. I listen. It sounds like someone playing the piano. They hit an obviously wrong note. I flinch. It's only one note though. Then they hit another. Yikes. Not to mention the music sounds very flat. It feels sucked of all emotion and passion. Overall, it's rather disappointing.

"It's your lullaby." Edward explains, interpreting the pained expression on my face as confusion. "I didn't think you would let me get a piano so I could play for you here."

"Yeah. You don't need any more excuses to break into my room at 4 in the morning." I say. Edward laughs softly. I'm glad he's not so sulky anymore, but it would be nice if he left now. Instead he scoops me up off the bed with one arm, and pulls the cover back with the other. He puts me down with my head on the pillow and tucks the quilt around me. He lays down next to me. I grimace. He puts his arm over me.

"Thanks. Because clearly as a full grown woman I couldn't have tucked myself into bed." I say.

"You're welcome."

If my hands weren't under the covers, I would have face palmed. Either way, Edward is just sitting a _little _too close for comfort.

"I'm pretty tired, so I think I'll go to bed now." I say. Edward makes no motion to leave.

"Are you-aaa...going to leave?" I ask. He looks down at me, a little surprised.

"Do you want me to?"

"What? No. Don't be ridiculous. But yes. Please leave." I say. "Don't take it the wrong way."

Edward frowns, but moves away.

"Goodnight Bella."

"G'night. Don't let the bedbugs bite." I joke. But he's already gone. I try to get to sleep, but that painful CD keeps me awake. Finally, I just have to get up and turn it off.

"Phew. That was painful." I say to myself. With some peace and quiet, I finally get some sleep. I know tomorrow's going to be another tedious day with Edward. Hopefully I won't almost die though…


	38. Chapter 38

OCTOBER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

The floor is cold against my cheek. My eyes are crusty around the edges and it feels like I'm opening a sunken treasure chest that has been sealed for ages beneath the sea, not my eyelids. I wipe the little pool of drool from my dried lips. I'm so thirsty. It feels like I haven't drank or eaten anything for _months_.

"OOoooh. It feels like I've been _hibernating,_" I moan as I sit up. The blanket slides away and I shiver. _Why is it so cold? _

I pull my blanket up around me, and it reminds me a bit of Theoden and his kingly chinchilla robe. I shuffle over to the window, still picking little dried crusts from around my eyes. I pause as I stare out the window.

_This can't be right…_

I don't see anything, just whiteness. I scratch my head. Then I realize what it is I'm staring at.

"S-snow?"

My body moves on its own. It runs over to the calendar hanging lifelessly on Bella's wall.

"J-JANUARY?! This can't be right. It's not possible!"

I run downstairs, but halfway down trip over the blanket robe and tumble the rest of the way down.

"Ouch." I squeak.

"Bella? Are you okay?" Charlie asks, suddenly appearing. I nod.

"I'm okay."

"What are you doing? I haven't seen you get up this early since September!"

"What? What month is it?" I ask. Charlie looks concerned.

"It's January."

"January! I've been asleep since September?!" I ask. Then I figure it out. It's like that time I was in Phantom of the Opera and the months flashed by. I groan and bury my head in the blankets.

"Bella, I know this Edward thing has been hard for you…" Charlie says.

"It's not Edward!" I explain. "I've gotten past that, _trust me_."

"Really?" Charlie asks, not looking convinced.

"I can't believe this happened." I grumbled. Stupid book. Every time I try to do something for myself, it manages to mess me up. I'll just have to try harder. I gather the blanket and stand up.

"Time to go to school." I say. "See ya later!"

By the time I get to school, I decide that what I need to do is improve relations with Bella's "friends". What's going to be hard about this is that Bella isolated everyone before Edward even left! They've always been nice to her but she's just been cold and distant in return. But I'm going to change.

This is my attitude when I stride into the cafeteria.

"Hey!" I say, happily. Everyone at the table looks scared at my display of emotion.

"Bella?" Jessica asks.

"Yep." I say with a smile.

"You feeling okay?" Mike asks.

"I have not felt this good for ages." I reply. I take a bite into the suspicious sloppy joe from the school cafeteria.

"You're eating?" Jessica says, bewildered.

"Of course! I've been starving since second period. Normally I would never trust the school's sketchy sloppy joes, but this is an emergency."

That actually gets a laugh from Mike. I smile more.

"So I was wondering what ya'll are doing later. Anyone want to go see a movie or something?" Iask. I'm greeted with stunned silence.

"Why are you asking _me?_" Jessica asks. I realize with horror just how badly Bella treated these people she called her "friends". She just ignored them for _months?_ Even when they put in loads of effort to make her feel welcomed at a new school, and later make her feel better about being dumped by Edward? Geeez. No wonder they're upset. Bella's been a total _bitch_ to them. I've got to fix this.

"I'm asking you because I've been a total bitch, and you don't deserve to be treated the way I treated you. Ignoring you, being passive aggressive, putting some random guy above our friendship. Clearly I haven't been thinking straight. So I just want to apologize and see if you'd be willing to give me a second chance?" I ask. Her eyes start to water and I freak out that she's about to cry, but then a smile spreads across her face.

"Oh, Bella! Of course. I'd _love_ to hang out." She says. I smile back. A wave of happiness floods through me. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm really good with anything." I say. She ponders for a moment before suggesting some romcom she heard about. We make plans for later. The bell rings and we part ways.

Later, I'm actually really excited for the movie. Jessica is beyond friendly and bubbly. We talk 4e_va_. Time flies by until the movie starts, but even then we make comments to each other about the silly romantic lines and mediocre acting.

When the movie is over, we decide to debate which lines were the worst. We wander, looking for the car, and continue to talk and gush about the ridiculousness of the movie. I don't realize where Jessica is leading me. I'm only vaguely aware that it was dark and quieter now. Then I notice Jessica has quieted down too and she looks tense. I look around to find we're on a short stretch of unlit sidewalk. The little shops lining the street are all locked up for the night, windows black. Half a block ahead, the streetlights start up again, and I can see, farther down, the bright golden arches of a McDonald's.

"I think we're lost." I say. This makes Jessica even more anxious. Across the street there's an open business, some place called One-Eyed Pete's. There a group of four men standing outside the bar. One of Bella's memories of almost getting mugged tugs at my mind. I ignore it. I explain to Jess that I'm going to go ask those men for directions. She looks panicked.

"Bella, are you _crazy?_" She whispers. I tell her it'll be ok, those men look nice enough, I'm sure the tattoos are just temporary do-it-yourself, have 911 on speed-dial just in case, and head over. I walk across the street and hear another voice say, "Bella, stop this right now!"

I freeze. That isn't Jessica's voice, and it isn't Nemo's voice. So far, he's been the voices in my head (or rather invisibly following me? I never actually figured that out), well, except for that one time in Maximum Ride, but that was different! I think this is it. I've finally cracked. I knew Twilight would be the end of me.

"Go back to Jessica," The lovely voice orders, still angry. "You promised-nothing stupid."

And that's when I realize who the voice is. I recognize that stern ordering voice and the familiar sense of being treated like an inferior. I'm thankful that I'm not crazy yet but I sneer because I have to deal with Edward again. I roll my eyes and continue on my way.

"Keep your promise." The voice says.

"Maybe stop projecting your voice into my mind? You promised you would leave me alone." I point out. I see Jessica and the bikers look confused because they're not sure who I'm talking to.

"Bella, turn around." The voice growls, and I continue to do the exact opposite of what it wants. I hate to admit it, but it pleases me to hear Edward so fed up. Maybe it's immature, but payback is just too sweet.

"Hi." One of the men calls to me. He seems nice. Edward snarls. He is so judgmental! I'm sure these people are very kind. I smile at the man who greeted me.

"Can I help you with something? You look lost." He grins and winks.

"Funny you should say that, because we are." I explain. The voice is silent, but I can feel the annoyance radiating from it. Much to my satisfaction, the group of men point me in the right direction. I thank them profusely, and head back to Jessica.

"I knew those guys would be totally chill." I reassure her. Still the voice says nothing. I smile. Jessica is still a little shaken, however after I get us back to the car her usual bubbliness returns. She's laughing and jovial once by the time she drops me off at my house. We make plans to hang out in the near future.

"Where have you been?" Charlie demands when I walk in the door.

"Whohohoooa. Chill, I was just hanging with Jessica." I explain. Charlie seems suspicious, as if he just couldn't believe that I'm capable of having _fun _or interacting with real living people. He lets me go upstairs and I fall asleep.

For the first time in a while, I have a nightmare. It starts as one of Bella's. I'm looking at myself as an old wrinkly grandma carrying knitting and a pie in a mirror. The knitting isn't even well-done. I turn away and see I'm in a field of some sort that looks vaguely familiar.

"_Come back." _The mirror says. The voice compels me to turn around. The grandmother version of me in the mirror has shed its skin to reveal Nemo underneath. His hair is black and slicked back to match his suave leather jacket, looking just like he did when I first met him in _The Outsiders._ His iconic mischievous I-know-more-than-you smile that he wears is gone, replaced by a frown and a worry line above his forehead.

"_You left me." _He cries.

"Nemo, what's wrong?" I ask.

_"__How could you just leave me?"_ He accuses me. That's when I see a hand grab his shoulder. Fear and panic fills Nemo's eyes. He's completely forgotten me.

"_Wait, please no!"_ He begs, to no one in particular. Then he's forcefully pulled out of the frame into whatever lies beyond the borders of the mirror.

"Nemo!" I yell, horrified. I slam my fists against the mirror. It does nothing. When my hands are painted with bruises and pain shoots through my wrists, I take a step back. Only my reflection stares back at me, looking pitifully scared and weak. I yell in anger and throw the mirror to the ground. It falls and shatters, the glass fragments flying across the waving grass.

And I wake up. Charlie is there. He's clearly worried, and asks over and over if it's about Edward. I tell him it's not, that I'll be okay. His concern is touching, even if it's for his daughter, not me. And it does make me feel better to know I'm not alone. I tightly hug this man who's almost a complete stranger. He hugs back and I feel safe, if only for a moment. Finally he leaves and I'm left cold and alone again.

Just in case you missed that, I'm very worried about Nemo right now.


	39. Chapter 39

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I feel better the next day. Without the Cullens, everything about Forks is so normal. It's honestly very refreshing. Jess also brightens my mood. Then I notice something weird during work.

Two men arguing about a big bear one of them saw in the woods.

"I'm telling you," one man says, "I've seen grizzlies pretty close up in Yellowstone, but they had nothing on this brute."

"Not a chance. Black bears don't get that big. The grizzlies you saw were probably cubs." The second man retaliated.

"Where did you see this?" I interrupt the argument.

"Only a few miles from the trailhead, not up on the mountain." The first man answers, glad that someone was listening to him.

"Hmm. Thanks." I say. This can only mean one thing. Radioactive waste has mutated the bears in this area morphing them into gigantic killing brutes. Or I guess it could be werewolves. But radioactivity seems much more likely.

I decide I should mention it to Charlie. The guys at the police station tell me he's on the Reservation. On the way to the Reserve, I slow the truck down. Sitting on the side of the road are two rusty motorcycles. My eyes breeze over them. Confession time: I've always wanted a motorcycle. Even if they are deathtraps, I can't help it, they're just so badass and cool! All thoughts of radioactive bears disappear from my mind.

I ring the bell of the house. A boy with sandy hair opens it.

"Bella Swan?" He asks. I don't know how he knows my name but whatever.

"Yep. I was wondering how much those bikes out there are?" I ask, jerking my thumb over my shoulder towards the sale display.

"Are you serious?" he demands.

"Of course! Bikes are so rad."

"They don't work."

"Hm. That's a problem. I guess I'll just need to learn mechanics." I say.

"If you really want one, just take it. My mom made my dad move them down to the road so they'd get picked up with the garbage."

"Nice! Thanks so much."

"You want me to help you?" he offers. "They're not light."

"Thanks!" I say, and together we lift the bikes into the trunk of the car. I thank him again, enthusiastically. He nods slowly, another person who's never seen Bella show emotion. With that, I drive home, excited to get started. I borrowed some "Idiot's Guide to Mechanics" books from the library. I'm in the middle of one when I hear the doorbell ring. Much to my surprise, it's Jacob.

"Hi Bella!" he greets me, his smile stretching wide across his face.

"Jacob? Hi."

"I heard you were rebuilding some motorcycles? Need any help with it?" he asks.

"Hm. It would be easier to have someone with experience. Yeah, why not? I put them in the garage." I say, and lead him to the bikes. Jacob is very different from when I last saw him during that bonfire party. He has buffed up. A lot. I'm talking lifting every day. His muscles seem almost too big, like they don't fit his face. But whatever, I've never been someone to judge people based on their looks (at least I _try _not to be).

"You know what? I have two motorcycles. When we're done, would you want the other one?" I ask.

"Swee-eet." He says. We get to the garage, and he inspects them and determines they're not half bad. And so we make plans to work on them again. I'll have to work extra to get money for the extra parts though. That shouldn't be too bad. I mean, it's not like it's so much money I'd have to steal from my college funds and ruin all my chances of being able to pay to go somewhere worthwhile which could give me opportunities to advance my knowledge and career beyond this little town. That'd be ridiculous.

The days fly by as I struggle to catch Bella up on all the schoolwork, and people she ignored for FOUR MONTHS, by like _whatever_. And when I have free time I stop by Jacob's and we work on the motorcycles. Nothing much happens, at least nothing would actually be worthwhile for me to tell you and really I'm doing you a favor because who would actually want to listen to all that boring school drama? Exactly.

Finally, Jacob and I finally finish the motorcycles. I'm eager to try it out. Jacob shows me the basic controls, and I'm ready. My stomach is contorting strangely, not from fear, but anticipation. Jacob helps me start the bike.

That's when I hear him.

"This is reckless and childish and idiotic, Bella," his 'velvet' voice fumes. I laugh.

"Did I say something funny?" Jacob asks.

"Haha. No, no. Please continue." I say.

"Bella, this isn't a joke." The voice says, even angrier now. It's just too entertaining. _Let's see how far I can push him._

"How do I go faster, Jacob?" I ask.

"Are you ready for that?" Jacob asks.

"You're not." Edward says.

"I'm very ready."

"Alright," Jacob says, and shows me how to go faster. "But I really think you should start out slowly."

"You're probably right." I say, while the bike roars to life. I start inching forward with the clutch. Then something occurs to me.

"Shouldn't I have a helmet?" I ask. Jacob frowns. The voice is silent, but I can tell it's regretting that it didn't think of that first.

"I'll go dig one out from the garage." Jacob says and runs off.

Jacob never told me how to stop. _I'll just let the bike slowly come to a stop._

"Bella, why are you still on the bike?!" Edward says, spooking me. My hand instinctively twists and suddenly the bike propels me forward. I scream (and I swear I can almost hear Edward screaming too). The bike pulls up into a wheelie, which is simultaneously horrifying and exhilarating. Edward yells in my ear to stop. He distracts me and the bike is thrown off course. It hits a rock, and I go flying.

My wings unfurl and slow me down (_don't try this at home_), but not enough to stop me from slamming face first into a tree. I'm lucky I don't get impaled on a branch or anything, but DAAYAMN. It hurts. My wings fold back into hiding under my clothes. They seem to have a mind of their own these days.

It's a good thing they do though because no sooner have my wings disappeared then I hear Jacob's heavy breathing above my head.

"Bella?" Jacob shakes me. "Are you hurt?"

"_And that kids_, is why you always wear a seatbelt." I slur.

"Did you hit your head?" Jacob asks.

"Unfortunately. But I _wouldn't have if not for a certain distracting voice._" I say, and point towards my bleeding head.

"I'm taking you to the hospital." He announces and picks me up.

"I'm fine. Trust me." I say. I still have Max's super healing powers. I think. Either way, I'm the protagonist, I can't get hurt unless it progresses the plot. Although it would be best to take a break for today.

So more time passes, blahblahblah. I get a little better at riding the bike, and Edward starts to bother me less. Then Valentine's Day comes along. _Ewww. _I know. I know. But I suffer through it. I'm just a saint like that.

Anyways, I'm invited to a movie party. I arrive to find that only Jacob and Mike are able to attend. There's some awkward tension here. It might be because Jacob's character is clearly made to replace Edward and what little Mike has of character is only here to create some sort of conflict. Not a very interesting one though.

Jacob drives to the theater, I sit shotgun, and Mike sulks in the back. At one point he leans forward, resting his chin on the shoulder of my seat; his cheek almost touches mine.

"Dude. Personal space." I say. He leans away.

"Doesn't the radio work in this thing?" Mike asks, trying to be relevant.

"Yes," Jacob answers. "But Bella doesn't like music."

"Is that a _joke?_" I ask. "What kind of soulless person doesn't like music?"

"...you?"

"NO! Turn the tunes up!" I say, and quickly scrowl through the stations. "Ugh I _love this song._

_"__IS THIS THE REAL LIFE? IS THIS JUST FANTASY? CAUGHT IN A LANDSLIDE NO ESCAPE FROM REALITTTTEEEYYY." _I sing out.

"Oh look at that, we're at the theater, sorry Bella you can continue your song later." Jacob says. He and Mike jump out of the car. I frown. I guess my singing ability has left since Phantom. Back to my old voice. I can still have fun though.

We buy tickets to a zombie movie. In the first five minutes I start laughing from the stupid specials effects.

"Blood does not look that like." I laugh. I'm shushed by some randos a few rows back.

Both Jacob and Mike claim the armrests on either side of me. How did I get stuck with no armrest? Laaaaame. Worse yet, both their hands rested lightly, palms up, in an unnatural looking position. Whatever makes them comfortable. I try to focus on the movie, but the sexist portrayal of the main female character is killing me.

"Oooh come _on_," I moan. "No one's skirt _just so happens _to conveniently tear in a straight line up the thigh and stop right before the hip! That just doesn't happen."

More shushes from the back of the theater. I roll my eyes. Time for some education. I stand up. Mike and Jacob tap my arm to stop me. Clearly they don't know how determined I can be.

"Don't shush me! I'm pointing out inherent flaws with this movie and specifically its portrayal of women. Hey! Don't give me that sass!" I yell at a guy who makes a face at me two rows back. He recoils when I call him out. "That's right. I see you. This is a serious problem with Hollywood these days and it's important that we acknowledge that Hollywood sexualizes every woman in every movie. And worse, they don't even bother to give them character outside of boobs and ass. Women are more than just pretty things to look at. We have personalities and complex motivations and-"

An arm tightly grabs me.

"Ouch, Jacob...Oh." I look up to see it's not Jacob I'm looking at but a security guard.

"Madam, quiet down or leave the theater." He says. His demeanor bothers me, but I can't pinpoint why.

"But I'm imparting important social justice knowledge on these people so that we can improve the conditions of women and minorities that are discriminated against." I explain.

"You can impart your knowledge outside the theater." He says, and it hits me why he bothers me. He's just a little too similar to an Editor for my liking. Therefore, I refuse to let him intimidate me (so much for not judging people on their looks)..

"You'll just have to drag me out then." I say, and defiantly put my hands on my hips.

"My butt really hurts." I say, and rub ice on my butt. "Thanks for the ice."

"No problem," Jacob says.

"Who knew they were actually allowed to forcefully drag you from the theater?" Mike asked.

"Haha. Well I wish whoever knew that would have spoken up sooner." I say. "Sorry for getting us kicked out of the movie."

"It's okay," Mike says.

"It was a crappy movie anyways," Jacob says.

"Yeah," Mike agrees. "Plus I was starting to feel a little queazy."

"Haha. Movie too much for you?" Jacob taunts. Mike pouts.

"Actually Jacob, I noticed your face looked a little flushed." I say. I feel this forehead. "Your head is burning. I think maybe you should go see a doctor."

Jacob looks flustered and upset by this. I'm just trying to look out for him.

"I-I think we should go home." Jacob says.

"You don't want to stop for ice-cream or try to get kicked out of another movie theater? There are so many possibilities!" I say.

"I'm not feeling it." Mike says, looking very green.

"Maybe you have a point." I say, and reluctantly get in the car. The ride back is very awkward, especially because I can tell my singing along with the radio is not making Jacob or Mike feel better.

"Let's maybe turn the radio off for a little while." Jacob says.

"Good idea. I need to work on acapella anyways." I say, and continue. Jacob cringes and Mike audibly moans in pain. I frown. I'll save my singing for later I guess.

"Bye!" I say when I'm dropped off at home. The car rushes away with a quick goodbye of backlash air blowing my hair into my face. "Feel better."

_Why do I have a feeling this is a terrible foreshadow of something about to happen?_

Probably because it is.


	40. Chapter 40

"Damn plot development." I whine while waiting for Jacob to answer his phone. He'd been acting weird ever since the movie. I'd been calling, but he hadn't been answering.

"Hello?" A broken voice crackles through the phone.

"Jacob! About time. I've been calling forever." I say.

"Sorry." He says. All humor is gone from his voice.

"From your voice I'm going to take a wild guess that you're not feeling any better?"

"Not really at all."

"You'll get better soon." I say. "Mike called me this morning and he's better already!"

"I don't think I have the same thing he did." Jacob says after a pause.

"Don't you have the stomach flu?"

"No. This is something else." Uh oh. He's being unresponsive and mysterious. This is worse than I thought.

"You want me to come visit you?"

"No. You can't come here."

"Eeexccuuuuuse me?"

"I'll call you when I can. I'll let you know when you can come down again." Jacob says and hangs up.

_WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEeeeell then. _I promptly decide to visit him.

The cars are in the driveway, so I know that Billy and Jacob are home. I knock on the door. Billy answers and looks shocked, but hides it well. He tries to make awkward small talk and get me to leave. I push past him. I call Jacob's name and hear an answering moan from one of the bedrooms.

"Bella, you can't go in there!" Billy yells. I pull the door open and step into the room. Jacob is lying in a pile of crumpled blankets, covered in sweat and not wearing a shirt.

"Bella?" He weakly moans. "I told you not to visit me. I'm sick."

"I'm calling BS on this one Jacob," I say, angrily putting my hands on my hips. I point towards his abs. "Who the hell develops a six-pack from the flu?"

"You've just never seen me without a shirt." Jacob explains. I roll my eyes.

"Why do you assume I'm stupid enough to believe that? Something is clearly going on and I want an explanation! And I swear to god if you give some half-ass ambiguous answer that skirts the question, I will be _pissed._" I say. Jacob is quiet. Maybe his fever caused him to suddenly go into a coma? I'm about to let Billy in, when Jacob shows signs of life again.

"Do you smell cat?" He asks. I bite my lip. All my anger dissipates and is replaced with paranoia. _How does he smell my cat scent? I thought I lost that!_

"I-I um. Well, it's definitely not me because I don't have any cats or have been around any cats or am a cat myself, that's just craaaazy," I say, stumbling over my words. Then my nose catches a distinct smell, and I sneeze violently. I haven't sneezed that much since Lucas in _The Mortal Instruments._ Together this can only mean one thing…"Do you smell dog?"

Jacob tenses up and looks anxiously around the room. He starts stuttering, "I-I um. Well, it's definitely not me because I don't have any dogs or have been around any dogs or am a dog myself."

He finishes and we both stare at each other suspiciously. _There's definitely something going on here. AND I WILL FIND OUT WHAT. _My eyes narrow. I need to be careful that Jacob doesn't discover my secret, because that'd be a clear flare to the Editors to find me.

"I should go now," I say and step out the door. "Sorry for barging into your house, hope you feel better soon...I'll see you _around._"

My research begins. Unfortunately the search results for "dog sickness" are not helpful. I get more specific. "Sickness that turns you into a dog". That just gave me a weird article about this guy that got super high one time. Not helpful. This goes on for a while. Eventually I'm reduced to reading an articles about _werewolves. _Can you image? That desperate for ideas. Pfft. At that point I know I've hit a dead end.

Next I grab some binoculars and a pair of camouflage pants and stakeout his house. The pants are bright pink, so they draw some attention, but they're the only camouflage I could find! It's alright though because I offset it with a badass bandana and black streaks of paint under my eyes. Unfortunately, the stakeout is pretty boring because Jacob just stays in his room _all week. _Lame.

I'm ready to give up, when Jacob gets some interesting visitors. It's the La Push gang. Next thing I know, Jacob takes off with them into the woods. _That's not suspicious at all. _Now I HAVE to follow them. I jump out of the car and take off after them. Five seconds of running and I've lost them and the path back to civilization. I may have underestimated my tracking abilities. I try to use my cat skills of smelling but it's no help.

After wandering aimlessly through the woods for an hour or two or five (I don't really know), I'm ready to break out the wings and fly home. Who cares if someone might spot me or if I accidentally alert the Editors to my whereabouts? I refuse to spend anymore time away from the internet and alone in nature than necessary. Then my eye catches a change in the scenery. I crawl through the brush until I come upon a clearing. It looks kind of familiar.

As I step into the field, I realize it's the meadow from the nightmare about Nemo. _AAaaaand I'm ready to leave now. _Just as I come to this conclusion, a figure steps out from the trees to the north, some thirty paces away. _Ah shit. Just my luck._

"Bella?" The figure asks, sounding astonished. He comes closer and I recognize his features. He's one of the vampires from the first book. A name pops into my head. _Laurent. _That's a fake name if I've ever heard one.

"Lauuurent. Long time no see." I say. His eyes scan me.

"You seem...different."

"More personality, humor, and less whining teenage angst you mean? Why thank you."

"I didn't expect to see you here," He says. I shrug. He grins. That's not a good sign. He continues, "I didn't expect...When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."

"They did," I confirm. "And let me tell you it's about _time. _A girl needs her freedom, ya know? And the single life is off the hook."

Laurent's dark red eyes seem hungry. Hmm. Those are the first dark red eyes I've seen.

"Do they visit often?" he asks, still casual, but his weight shifts toward me. _I'm so done with this shit._

"Lie," the beautiful velvet voice whispers anxiously from my memory.

"Son of a biiiitch." I say outloud. Laurent gives me a sideways look. I play it cool. "I just remembered I left the stove on. That's gonna be a mess when I get home."

Laurents shrugs me off. He takes a casual step to the side, gazing around at the little meadow. I didn't miss that the step brings him closer to me. In my head, the voice responds with a low snarl. I roll my eyes and put my hands up.

"Okay enough with the bullshit. I'm sure you think you're being subtle about wanting to eat me or whatever, but this is getting really old really quickly," I say to Laurent. He pauses. Edward makes a noise. "Shut it Edward. Now look, I haven't eaten in _at least _three hours which is three hours too many. So if we're going to fight can we just get on with it so I can get home?"

Laurent is taken aback, but quickly regains his composure. "Victoria won't be very happy with me for killing you, but oh well. Really I'm doing you a favor."

"Whoa. In that case, please never do any favors for me. Ever."

"You see, I'm hunting. I'm quite thirsty and you do smell...simply mouthwatering." He seductively purrs.

"Ewww," I groan. "Do you hear yourself when you talk? Because you sound very rapey right now."

"Clearly Edward doesn't care enough about you, because he just left you here without protection, so I don't have to worry about him coming after me." Laurent says. _That's it._

"I don't need any man, vampire, or _anyone_ to 'protect' me, thank you very much. I am more than capable of taking care of myself. And I hope you're ready to get your_ ass kicked_ by this 'mouthwatering' human." I say angrily. I roll up my sleeves.

Laurent raises his eyebrow, but doesn't move to defend himself. Clearly he thinks I'm not a threat. Little does he know that I still have Annabeth's knife and kickass skills. I seize the moment and punch Laurent full force in the face. He falls back and looks up at me in shock.

"Did you just punch me?" He asks.

"I'm repaying your favor." I say, and pull out the knife. Laurent laughs. He puts his hands on the ground and starts to get up. He's lightning fast, but all my previous experiences make me just as fast. My arms grip his neck. I kneel down and crush his head into my chest and restrain his neck with my arms. Luckily for him, he doesn't need to breath. Unfortunately for him, I have my knife which I hold above his heart.

"I hope this will make you think twice about threatening someone." I say. Now I just have the dire question of whether or not I should kill him. I made that promise to Rue, but I also broke that promise so what's the harm in hurting one more person? On the other hand, shouldn't that make it more important for me to amend my broken promise?

As I'm having this internal debate, Laurent starts making wheezy noises and seems distressed.

"Can you shut it for a moment, I'm in the middle of a moral conflict." I say. Laurent does not shut it. Then I see it's not me that he's scared of, but something that just came into the meadow. Or something_s. _

_I swear to god._

The creatures approach. In the second that I'm trying to figure out what they are, Laurent wiggles free and flees. I grab for him, but the creatures are already pouncing after him.

"Hey! He's mine!" I yell in vain. One of the creatures pauses to look at me. At a closer range, I can see very clearly that the creatures are giant wolves. Yeah. You heard me. Wolves. _If its werewolves…_

The wolf looks long and hard at me, and then trots off to follow its brethren. It was definitely Jacob. Jacob is a wolf. I have no explanation for how or why, but I guess that's just part of my life now. Left alone in the meadow, I roll my eyes and start heading home, only to realize I still have no idea where that is.

"You know Edward voice, _now _would be a great time to speak up with the directions home." I say out loud. I'm met with silence. _Great. Real helpful._ I grit my teeth and start back into the woods.

**Wow, 40 chapters! That's honestly so crazy. Thanks to everyone that's review, favorited, followed, and just read up to 40 chapters of my story and hopefully even more! You are all awesome. **


	41. Chapter 41

I get back home and nap, shower, and just enjoy the luxuries of civilization. The next day I decide never to go outside again. However, almost immediately I also make up my mind to confront Jacob. I know I just made that decision to never go outside again, but this is an exception.

I drive out to La Push, and low and behold, find Sam Uley's supermodel gang of unnaturally sexy boys. Jacob's with them. There's no way in hell this kid is only a sophomore. He's enormous and covered in a thick layer of muscles that wrap around his legs and up to his arms and shoulders. That's just not natural.

"Hey, wolf boys!" I yell. Actually, that's a good name for a band. _Wolf boyz. _Mental note taken. Anyway, "Thanks for completely abandoning me in the woods yesterday. It took me over _four hours_ to get home."

"We weren't in the woods yesterday." Jacob and co say, playing dumb.

"I'm not a complete idiot Jacob. You and your boy band are werewolves. Been there, done that. I want to know why you left me in the woods and are suddenly cold and distant!" I say.

"You know about werewolves?!" Jacob exclaims. It seems they're all dumbfounded. Even Sam.

"It's not that hard to figure out. In teen novels, when there are vampires it's only a matter of time before werewolves show up." I shiver, remembering _The Mortal Instruments._

"She knows too much," One of the gang members says. I think his name is Paul. "We should kill the leech lover."

"That is offensive and racist," I say. "And I was about to tell you a little secret about another vampire that might be threatening this stupid town and all the unfortunate losers stuck in it. _But nevermind about that."_

Never one to miss a dramatic opportunity, I turn with a hair flip and start to strut away. _One, two..._And they're calling me back. I pause for a moment (for dramatic effect of course), and then turn back.

"Yes?" I say. The boys huddle together and whisper for a few moments. When they disperse, Sam is that the head.

"You know too much about our pack," He says, and for a second I'm a little worried. What if I just got myself killed? "But you also know valuable information regarding the vampires."

"You're like a spy!" Jacob pipes in.

"For this reason, we will allow you to live and help us protect this town." Sam announces.

"No apology for yesterday? Just '_allowing me to live'_." I say, forgetting the fact that they could kill me any second. "And for the record, you guys are doing a pretty shitty job of protecting the town. I mean one vampire got in, and another one's coming! And I don't see you doing anything about it except for harassing me."

"You have really horrible taste in women, Jacob." Paul says. Jacob blushes.

"Exxccuuuuse me?" I ask. "_Taste in women?_ So women are just fine wines to be judged against each other and tasted whenever _you _feel like it? How dare you judge me! And another thing, just because Jacob has a female companion does NOT mean that I'm automatically his girlfriend. Believe it or not, women are capable of being more than romantic companions."

Paul gives Jacob another look. From their faces, I could swear they were reading each other's minds. Also weirdly enough, when Sam gives them a stern look Jacob and Paul stop glaring at each other.

"Am I missing something here? Is there some kind of wolf eye morse code I don't know about?" I ask.

"We can communicate to each other in our minds. It allows us stay in contact when we morph." Sam explains.

"Vampires, werewolves, mindreading...and no one has ever suspected anything weird in this town." I say.

"Bella, we've decided to listen to your information." Sam begins. Paul cuts him off.

"But you need to do something to prove yourself." Paul says. A worry line forms on Jacob's forehead.

"Fine. What stupid frat house initiation do you want me to do?"

Several minutes later we're standing at the top of a cliff. I glance down at the choppy water which seems to be miles below but in actuality is only a few hundred feet. The spray from the crashing waves against the side of the cliff wafts upwards and settles as a thin layer of salt on my lips. My tongue moistens my now dried lips.

"This doesn't seem too bad." I say. I'm not lying though. After getting thrown out of windows, and in many cases jumping out on my own accord, I'm not afraid of heights. It also helps when you have wings.

"Bella you don't have to do this." Jacob says simultaneously with the voice of Edward who just chimes into the conversation. I ignore them both and tie my hair back. I motion for the boys to move out of the way. Paul looks eager for me to take the plunge (there's a good chance he's betting Sam that I'll chicken out). I take a few steps back towards the forest, giving myself some takeoff room.

"What're you doing?" Paul asks.

Ignoring him, I rush forward. All of a sudden, fear grasps me. The cat senses seize me with a sudden loathing for water. My mind yells to stop running, but my feet have already taken off and are no longer listening. The wind blows in my face and snatches my breath before I even leave the ground. When the edge approaches, my knees gather energy and kick off. As my toes lose the safety of the ground I yell out "CannonbbaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAllll!"

Edward's faint yelling is blocked out by the rush of adrenaline mixed with the roars of the waves. The next second, all the noise is stopped. The water swallows me into its quiet underbelly. I'm reminded of Percy, which I suppose makes sense because he _is _the son of the sea. Strangely though, this water has the same accepting friendliness of Percy. This silent murky stillness is a sanctuary from the chaos of above. When I start to float back towards the surface, I feel guilty for leaving.

I pop my head up. My hands rub the salt from my eyes that now sting slightly. The pack waves down at me from up on the cliff. I wave back. _Wow. They look really excited. They must be so proud of me._

That's when the first wave smacks me in the back of the head. My mouth opens, about to curse, but instead chokes upon water. I tumble in circles, the waves thrashing me about. Imagine being in a washing machine and you've got a pretty good idea how I feel. One wave pushes me down again. For a moment, I'm in a limbo between the war of above and the peace of below. I can't enjoy it though because a mirage of Edward is there.

_Go away. _I think angrily. He just reaches out to me. I struggle away.

"Keep swimming!" He yells at me. _What the hell do you think I'm doing?_

"Fight! Keep fighting!" He yells again. I roll my eyes and turn myself around. I'd rather face the waves again than deal with Edward. My lungs are certainly thankful when I reach the surface. This time I identify where the waves are, and use them to steer me towards the beach. My arms and legs are in a screaming competition to see who's in more pain. I tell them both to shut it and just make it to the beach. Then something grabs me.

My head is pulled under and once more I get a mouthful of salt water. Then I'm pulled back up. Jacob pants as he swims towards the beach with one hand, and pulls me along with the other. I sputter, trying to form coherent words to say _I can swim,_ but all the water clogging my mouth and nose is making that impossible. Soon enough, we've reached the beach.

The sand scratches at my legs as Jacob pulls me ashore. I wave, trying to explain that I'm fine. He doesn't quite get it. He drops me on my back and starts doing chest compressions. The little air I had left is pushed out with a wheeze.

"Breathe, Bella. Come on." He stops. Great. Then he starts doing mouth to mouth. _Great. _I push him off, and immediately turn and puke onto the sand.

"Sorry about that." I say in between coughs. "I swallowed a lot of salt water."

"Bella! Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere?" Jacob asks.

"Just my chest." I say, rubbing the spot where Jacob crushed my ribs. The rest of the pack comes running down to the beach.

"Is she alright?" Sam asks.

"Yep. I'm fine. Just watch where you step." I joke.

"Jacob, your girlfriend is insane." Paul says.

"You were the ones who dared me to jump off that stupid cliff!" I say angrily. Jacob pulls on my arm.

"Come on, Bella." He says. "Let's get you home."

I frown, but follow him to his car. I grumble all the way back to Bella's house. When we arrive, there's an unfamiliar car in the driveway.

"What are the chances my birthday came early this year?" I say. Jacob doesn't laugh.

"Okay, that might not have been one of my finer jokes but you could at least pretend to laugh." I say. He shakes his head.

"Vampires." He says dramatically. I purse my lips.

"Welp, it was only a matter of time before my peaceful solitude was shattered." I say while getting out of the car. Jacob doesn't follow.

"Ya coming?" I ask. He shakes his head dramatically, says some gibberish about a treaty, wishes me the best of luck with not dying, and then drives off.

"...My knight in shining armor." I mumble and head towards the house.

"Helllloooo?" I sing through the house.

There's no answer. I turn towards the hallway. The faint light from one of the windows leaks in, and a long shadow falls across the rug. A menacing silhouette seems to wait for me at the end of the shadow. I freeze as the figure dramatically turns around. When she spots me, her face contorts into a look of confusion.

"Bella?" Alice asks.

"Yep." I say. "Although I don't know why you're so confused to find me in my house."

She doesn't laugh. I'm unappreciated in my time.

"Is something...wrong?" I ask, wondering why there is a sharp chill coming off her in my direction.

"I saw you jump." She says. The pieces fall into place. I laugh a little.

"Oh that!" I say. "Yeah, those crazy werewolves made me do some silly initiation thing. Don't worry though, I showed them how to do a proper cannonball."

"Bella, I-" Alice stumbled over her words. "I thought you were trying to...kill yourself."

"Did you not hear me yell _cannonball?_" I ask and cock an eyebrow. She shakes her head.

"Oh my…" Alice trails off. Her hands claw at her head and she stares intensely at the floor. I don't know how to react. Is she just really upset at her mistake or is our rug really that ugly?

"I've just had a vision!" She says, and looks up at me desperately. "Edward thinks you've killed yourself, and now he's going to Italy."

"Good for him?" I say. Alice shakes her head.

"He's not going on vacation. He's going to Italy so the Volturi can kill him."

"Whoa." I say, shocked. "That's a little melodramatic. (Also, what's a Volturi? Is that a pasta?)"

"Bella," Alice says, shaking me violently. "You need to show Edward you're alive. It's the only way to save him."

"Alright, just please stop shaking me. I've already lost my breakfast." I say.

Alice grabs my hand and nearly drags me to her car. I'll just suffer through it. I don't particularly like Edward, but I can't just let him kill himself. Plus, I'm hoping that after that I'll be able to leave this book.

"So, who are the Volturi again?" I ask.

"Didn't Edward tell you?" She asks. "They're an extremely powerful vampire clan that resides in Italy. They make sure all the other vampires stay in line."

"If we're going up against the vampire Mafia maybe we should get a werewolf to help us." I suggest. Alice slams the brakes and the car skids to a stop. If I hadn't already lost all the contents of my stomach, I would have then.

"A werewolf?" She asks. "Bella, have you gone insane?"

"I've been getting that a lot, but don't you think it makes more sense?" I ask. She glares at the steering wheel.

"I'm not working with a werewolf." She hisses. I put my hands up defensively.

"Sorry, it was just an idea." I say. "I just thought it might help us save Edward."

That seems to strike a chord with her. She vents her anger out on the steering wheel for another minute or two and then abruptly turns the car around. I call Jacob up on the phone and tell him to meet me at my house, that it's urgent, and that he needs to bring the rest of the werewolf pack. I figure being mysterious can only help; it gets people's attention.

When we return to my house, I tell Alice to wait in the car. She nods, but her fingernails dig into the steering wheel and her nose curls up. I race inside, and sure enough, Jacob's there with the wolf pack.

"Bella, what's wrong? Are you alright?" Jacob asks worriedly.

"I smell a vampire," Sam announces. The rest of the pack tenses. Their eyes scan the plain living room as if the vampire was somehow hiding behind the coat rack. Jacob looks to me for an explanation.

"Now before you get all excited," I say, "there is a vampire with me. But Alice is not one of your chew toys, so don't you dare touch her. However, she's beside the point. The reason I called you here is because Alice and I need to go to Italy and slay some ancient vampire mafia, and I figured you guys are, ya know, vampire killing experts and would kill for a chance to take some out."

"You want us to go to Italy?" Jacob exclaims. "And work with a vampire?"

"Yes," I say. "And along the way you get to kill vampires. And not just any vampires. These guys are the head honchoes. You'll be cutting the head off the serpent. This pack will go down in werewolf history. Each of you will be a legend."

I pause to let my words sink in. The pack fidgets, clearing considering my words. _I've almost got 'em_. Sam's eyes are still calculating so I brace myself.

"Why do you want to travel all the way to Italy to kill a vampire nest?" he asks. I should have seen this question coming, and now I struggle to find a suitable answer. My shoulder's slump as I realize I have no decent lies to tell.

"Edward is in trouble. And I need help to save him," I say, hating the faltering in my voice.

"You want us to risk our lives for a _vampire?_" Paul yells. His words don't bother me though. It's the heartbreak etched into Jacob's face that guilt trips me.

"I'm sorry, Bella," Sam says. "But we can't do that."

"Please," I beg, "he's going to die."

"And if you go, you'll die too," Jacob said. He reaches out to me. "Please don't go. Think what your death would do to Charlie – to me."

"That's an _if_," I say. "What's definite is that if you all just sit here then you're letting those vampires kill, not only Edward, but also all the innocent human beings they're feeding on because you were afraid to stop them. Well, I'm afraid too, but I'm still going."

I anticipate their anger at my statements, which to be fair, I meant to be incendiary. However, they don't yell at me for calling them cowards. My eyebrows scrunch as I try to comprehend what looks like shame on their faces. I turn towards the door.

"I'll be going alone then," I say, barely hiding the shock in my voice.

"Bella, please" Jacob called out.

"Don't worry," I say. "This won't be the first time I've faced vampires…"

But as I leave, I remember that in Mortal Instruments I'd had the luck of those vampires being distracted by werewolves. I pout and head back to the car. Perhaps I was just pushing them too far from the set plotline, too far from their norm. It was a doomed mission from the start. In the car, Alice hides her pleasant surprise at seeing no werewolves under a pretense of confusion.

"Where are the dogs?" She asks. I shake my head, and motion for her to turn the engine on.

"Not coming," I say.

"Look on the bright side," Alice said, trying to lighten the mood, "at least my car won't smell like dog for months."

"Honestly, _I'll _probably end up smelling like dog for months," I say, and crack a smile.

"We have extra tickets now, because I was expecting them to come," Alice says as she pulls out of the driveway.

"We'll have lots of leg room," I point out.

As we reach the edge of Forks, I can't stop myself from taking one look back. Against my better judgement, there's a part of me that expects to see Jacob's pack racing to stop our car. Then it hits me. I'm in a young adult novel. These things happen all the time, right? Maybe I need to work through the system to get what I want. If that means being overly dramatic and illogical, then I can make that sacrifice.

I whip my head towards the window. A lock of my hair falls over my eye as I stare longingly at the road. I make sure to take deep belabored breaths and squint my eyes slightly. Still no one comes down the road. Gritting my teeth, I force myself to keep trying. I tug at my hair and do that thing when you glance down dejectedly then slowly look back up. Nothing.

"Do you have something in your eye?" Alice asks. My shoulders droop.

"No," I say. Just as my hair falls back into its normal position, I catch movement out of the corner of my eye. My mouth drops as a giant wolf emerges from the forest.

"It worked!" I cry.

"That's a big dog," Alice says nervously. She skids to a stop, and the wolf circles the car until morphing back to human form. Jacob steps forward and knocks on the window.

"I decided you were right," he says. "It's time to step out of my boundaries and do something really important. None of the others agreed though…"

"Who cares?! You're just in time!" I say excitedly. "Pile in!"

He squeezes into the back of Alice's tiny car. It occurs to me that he's shirtless from being a wolf.

"What are going to do about your lack of a shirt?" I ask.

"Nothing," Alice says. I raise an eyebrow. "Don't worry, we're going to Italy. No one will care."


	42. Chapter 42

Alice was right. Although the flight attendants cared deeply about Jacob's shirtlessness, no one else seemed that troubled by it. At one point we were actually approached by a modeling agent. I was tempted to stay for a photo or two, but Alice reminded me that we were working with a deadline (no pun intended).

It's unfortunate because Italy is truly beautiful and I wish I could spend more time admiring the gorgeous landscape, the rolling hills lightly painted with sunlight, the small towns dotting the hilltops. I make a note to go sightseeing after saving Edward from himself and stopping the Volturi from devouring innocents.

Alice points out one of the towns in the distance as the Volturi's place of residence, known as Volterra.

"Am I really supposed to be intimidated by villains that name their hideout after themselves?" I ask.

"Don't underestimate them," Alice says. "There's a reason the Volturi have lasted for centuries, and why they are the ones that rule vampires."

"I know we can take them," Jacob says. Alice shakes her head.

"The Volturi will be unlike anything you've ever faced," she says. "Not only are they powerful, severe, and relentless, but they also have an obsession with vampires who possess special gifts, like Edward and myself only much more impressive. The Volturi use these vampires as guards. So we must be careful."

"Now I'm starting to get a little worried," I admit. My eyes widen as I see people in red robes swarming the town. Alice slowly drives through them, parting the Red Sea.

"Looks like we've come just in time for St. Marcus day," Alice says. "It's a celebration of the legendary Christian missionary St. Marcus, who allegedly drove all the vampires out of the city."

"Guess he missed a few," I say. This crowd is impossible to get through. It's too tightly packed. My patience wears thin.

"That's it, I'll just walk to get Edward." I say. "Where did you see him in your vision Alice?"

"At the clock tower, at noon." She says. "You go ahead with Jacob. And hurry."

"Noon?" I exclaim, looking at the stereo which reads 11:51. I slam the car door open, accidentally taking out a pedestrian.

"Sorry!" I yell as I race off towards the clock tower, Jacob following close behind. I weave between people, knocking over a few. Everywhere, sweaty bodies push up against each other. The sun presses down on us all, only increasing the claustrophobia. I'm drowning in my own sweat pooling on my forehead and under my armpits, and suffocating from body odor. In the chaos, I've been separated from Jacob. I spin around, only getting dizzy trying to locate him and losing precious time.

Then I see an oasis in the crowd. A clear, cool pool with shimmering coins relaxing at the bottom. My legs pull me towards it, and I stumble into the water. It engulfs me from head to toe. I close my eyes for a moment and hold my breath under the water. It's invigorating and I'm inspired to jump out and once more run towards the clock tower. Water sprinkles behind me, and I start to shove people out of the way. Most people move anyway because I'm soaking and smell like chlorine.

Then a chime rings out. I pause for just a moment to curse violently. Some parents with small children start to yell at me, but I push past them. I start yelling out Edward's name. Each of my screams is answered with a chime from the bell. Finally, I push through the crowd to see the base of the clock tower.

I'm astonished to see nothing. Just more people clothed in red. Did he change his mind? I scan the area, but my heart sinks when I see a dark alley hidden from my view. My heart jumps into my throat as I sprint forward, the effort piercing my lungs with pain. A shadow emerges. I cry out, but the clash of the bell swallows my words.

As I'm in Edward's view, I start to wave my hands to gain his attention. However, this throws off my balance. He starts to dramatically unbutton his shirt, and I actually think I have a chance of stopping him. That is, until I plunge face first into the pavement. My knees skid across the rough stone, blood trailing behind them. I suck in my breath with a hiss. I lift my hands up, and see minuscule pebbles embedded in them.

The pain is nothing compared with the disappointment I feel seeing Edward standing mere feet away, his chest completely bare and glittering in the bright sunlight. His marble skin and unrealistic body proportions make him look like a Roman statue, albeit a very glittery one. The pain of my failure makes my limbs feel full of lead, but I refuse to stop moving. When I reach Edward, I slam him backwards. We stumble back into the shadows.

"Amazing," he says, "Carlisle was right." His voice sounds loopier than usual. Has Edward been drinking? He smiles at me, slightly bemused. His hand tries to brush against my cheek but I shoo it away. I squint into his eyes and see they're fuzzy as if he's dreaming.

"I can't believe how quick it was. I didn't feel a thing- they're very good," he muses, closing his eyes again and pressing his lips against my hair. "Death, that hath sucked the honey of thy breath, hath had no power yet upon thy beauty."

"Oh god, are you quoting _Romeo and Juliet?_" I ask, trying to direct him towards Alice's car. "First off, that book is not a romance! It's Shakespeare criticizing young love. Second, now is not the time. And third, WE'RE NOT DEAD AND I'D LIKE TO KEEP IT THAT WAY, SO LET'S SKIDDADDLE. Although technically you are dead, or undead? I don't know but we need to go!"

Edward doesn't even seem to hear me. I groan and glance around in hopes of seeing Jacob. When I look back something has shifted on Edward's face. His clarity has returned but with it chilled irritation, like being woken up with a bucket of cold water. Just as I make this observation, he spins me so I'm pinned between the wall of the alley and his back, and I'm not sure which is colder to the touch. His body hunches over like a lion protecting its cub. My scowl falls away when two shadows step forward.

"Greetings, gentlemen," Edward says. "I don't think I'll be requiring your services today. I would appreciate it very much, however, if you would send my thanks to your masters."

"Shall we take this conversation to a more appropriate venue?" A smooth voice whispers menacingly.

"I don't believe that will be necessary." Edward's voice was harder now. I stand on my tiptoes to peer over his shoulders. "I know your instructions, Felix. I haven't broken any rules."

"Felix merely meant to point out the proximity of the sun," the other shadow said in a soothing tone. I could see now that they resembled shadows because they were wearing smoky gray cloaks that undulated with rhythm like shadows. "Let us seek better cover."

"I'll be right behind you," Edward says dryly. "Bella, why don't you go back to the square and enjoy the festival?"

Typical, five seconds together again and he's already telling me what to do.

"No, bring the girl," the "Felix" shadow says. If I had a quarter for every time a villain referred to me as "the girl" or "you girl". Edward's weight shifts, and it's clear he's about to retort. I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Can I introduce myself before we start fighting? It's only polite," I say, trying to be subtle about scanning the crowd beyond. "My name's Bella Swan. (I'm sure this guy has told you all about me)." I joke, motioning towards Edward. It's clear from his sour face that he's uncomfortable. I put my hand out for them to shake. Their lips curl as they gaze at my bloodstained hand.

"Bella!" A little voice chimes. My heart leaps to see Alice, and the distraction lets me pull back my hand to avoid further embarrassment. "I see you've met Felix and Demetri."

The two vampires, Felix and Demetri, glance at each other. They're slightly irritated expressions change to ones of horror and confusion when Jacob steps up from behind Alice. Their mouths drop, and Felix asks angrily, "You brought a werewolf with you?"

Edward's equally as surprised and angry. "You brought a werewolf with you?" He echoes.

"I did!" I say. "To help save you, even though you're overbearing and overly dramatic."

"Are you two breaking up?" Jacob asks, eagerness slipping into his voice.

"Not the time," I growl. Edward and Jacob glare at each other.

"Enough," A little girl's voice says behind us. Felix and Demetri let go of their defensive positions. Identical looks of defeat wash over Alice and Edward.

"Jane," Edward says, narrowing his eyes. I've only ever seen him look at Jacob like that.

Before us stands a girl, even shorter than me, wearing the same black robe as Felix and Demetri. Her face is pretty but her eyes are striking. Like Felix and Demetri, her irises are deep crimson and fade into black. However, within her eyes is a disconcerting sadism. I hate to judge people on sight, but I don't like her.

"Follow me," Jane says. None of us want to, but even I'm intimidated by those piercing eyes. She leads us to a door that's honestly little more than a hole in the ground. Beyond the door is a series of dark tunnels. Edward stays close to me, holding his hands out in case I fall. The sentiment bothers me because why would he just assume that I'm going to fall on my face? Although, maybe it's because I did only a moment earlier.

Either way, I decide not to say anything about it. No says anything. There's a silence as stony as Jane's apathetic expression. The water soaked in my cloths makes me shiver in the cold air. I hate the way these tunnels are too similar to catacombs. If I'm not careful, they could become my eternal resting place. I'd really hate to be stuck in Twilight forever.

We emerge from the tunnels into a reception area. There's a human woman sitting behind a desk. She smiles politely at us. I gape at the out-of-place room. The woman greets Jane, who nods back at her. I politely ask her for a towel, seeing as I'm soaking wet, but she ignores me. Edward pulls me along as Jane walks past the desk to a set of double doors. As we walk through them a boy in a gray suit meets us.

I freeze for a moment, convinced I'm seeing double. The boy is the exact likeness of Jane, and it's clear they're close from the intimacy with which they interact. She calls him Alec. They have to be siblings.

"Welcome back, Edward," Alec says, taking pleasure in teasing him. "You seem in a better mood."

"Marginally," Edward agrees in a flat voice. Alec chuckles and examines me. I cross my arms.

"And this is the cause of all the trouble?" he asks, skeptical. "And soaking wet?"

I narrow my eyes.

"Wow. Being condescending, dehumanization and talking as if I'm not standing right here. I bet you make lots of friends," I snap. Alec doesn't seem put off.

"Dibs," Felix calls casually from behind. Edward turns, a low snarl building deep in his chest. He's like a dog! Just use your words. I rub my temples. This is going to be _very _painful.

Alice calms Edward down, as the vampires lead us further down the hall. My mouth drops when I see the doors entirely sheathed in gold. I'm not ashamed to admit I start to drool a bit. However, the Volturi vampires ignore the doors and instead pull a piece of paneling away to reveal a plain wooden door.

Within the room is a handful of people. All of them have matching carved cheekbones, hair that's unnaturally shiny and pristine, and large piercing eyes the color of blood. Probably because you are what you eat. One vampire sticks out from the rest of them though. He is wearing a pitch-black robe that brushes the floor and has long black hair to match the robe. Most unusually, an amused smile is plastered across his face.

"Jane, dear one, you've returned!" he cries in evident delight. His voice is little more than a sigh. He drifts forward smoothly like a dancer. He takes Jane's face in his hands, and kisses her lightly on the lips, then floats back a step. I glance around but no one else seems to find this out of the ordinary, except for Jacob but he's had that bewildered look on his face since the tunnels.

"Yes, Master." Jane smiles, making her look like an angelic child. A sick, twisted, demented angelic child that probably tortures puppies for fun. "I brought him back alive, just as you wished."

"Ah, Jane." He says, still smiling. (I think that's his only facial expression). "You're such a comfort to me."

His eyes catch sight of me and Alice.

"And Alice and Bella, too!" he says, clapping his thin hands together. It makes me uncomfortable that he knows my name. "This is a happy surprise! Wonderful!"

Then he sees Jacob, and his smile twitches.

"And who is this?" he asks, examining Jacob. "A werewolf? How interesting."

The vampire pushes the thought away and his light mood returns. He prances over to Edward.

"You see, Edward?" He says. "What did I tell you? Aren't you glad that I didn't give you what you wanted yesterday?"

"Yes, Aro, I am," he agrees. He starts to put his arm around my waist and I take a step back.

"I love a happy ending." Aro sighs. "They are so rare. But I want the whole story. How did this happen? Alice? Your brother seemed to think you infallible, but apparently there was some mistake."

"Oh, I'm far from infallible," Alice says. "As you can see today, I cause problems as often as I cure them."

"You're too modest," Aro chides. "I've seen some of your more amazing exploits and I must admit I've never observed anything like your talent. Wonderful!"

"Alice, have you met this guy before?" I whisper to her. She gives a quick shake of her head.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been introduced properly at all, have we? It's just that I feel like I know you already, and I tend to get ahead of myself. Your brother introduced us yesterday, in a peculiar way. You see, I share some of your brother's talent, only I am limited in a way that he is not," Aro shakes his head enviously.

"And also exponentially more powerful," Edward adds. "Aro needs physical contact to hear your thoughts, but he hears much more than I do. You know I can only hear what's passing through your head in the moment. Aro hears every thought your mind has ever had."

"Oh my god," I gasp in horror. "Please don't touch me."

"What a shame, I was hoping to know the whole story of what's happened today!" Aro says with the tone that's he's still going to get what he wants. A disinterested white-haired ancient vampire drifts forward, apparently sensing that Aro wants him for something. He lightly touches Aro's palm. Aro nods thoughtfully as he read his thoughts.

"Thank you, Marcus," Aro says. "That's amazing. Absolutely amazing."

"What is?" I ask worriedly. Edward leans into me and explains, "Marcus sees relationships. He's surprised by the intensity of ours."

"Intense is certainly a good word for it," I growl.

"How can you stand so close to her like that?" Aro asks.

"Hey," I say, very offended. "I took a shower today! Well, I fell into a fountain. But it's essentially the same thing."

"He's referring to your blood," Edward says.

"Quite. If I hadn't smelled her through your memories, I wouldn't have believed the call of anyone's blood could be so strong." Aro says, somehow making me even more uncomfortable than I already was. "I've never felt anything like it myself. Most of us would trade much for such a gift, and yet you…"

"Waste it," Edward finishes, his voice sarcastic.

"Yes," Aro says. "What self-control! I did not know such strength was possible. To inure yourself against such a siren call, not just once but again and again- if I had not felt it myself, I would not have believed."

"Just remembering how she appeals to you…" Aro chuckles. "It makes me thirsty."

"Okkaaaayyy. I feel physically and spiritually unclean now." I say, desperate to change the subject. "What if we got back to us leaving Italy and going home in one piece and not dead?"

"Ah yes," Aro says, as if that was where he meant for the conversation to go the entire time. "But first…I am curious, about one thing in particular."

He eyes me with bright interest. I fight the urge to jump back into that fountain to wash off this uncleanliness. "May I?" he asks eagerly, reaching for my hand.

"Ask her," Edward suggests.

"Yeah, _ask her_," I agree.

"Of course, how rude of me!" Aro exclaims. He addresses me directly, "Bella, I'm fascinated that you are the one exception to Edward's impressive talent-so very interesting that such a thing should occur! And I was wondering, since our talents are similar in many ways, if you would be so kind as to allow me to try- to see if you are an exception for me, as well."

"No thanks," I say, slowly pulling back my hand. Not only does he make me beyond uncomfortable but I can't take the chance of him seeing my entire history, seeing the truth. Last time I let a mind reader into my head, in _The Mortal Instruments, _he could see my entire past. Aro is the last person I'd want to know about my situation. A darkness flashes across Aro's eyes, before being overshadowed by a hazy mist. Meanwhile Edward is staring at me in horror. He's clearly concerned and he didn't even see the unhinged power behind Aro's eyes.

"I understand your hesitance, it can be very scary indeed." Aro says, still smiling. "But I promise I will be gentle."

"Still no," I say. "My hands are gross anyway, I haven't moisturized in days."

The displeasure is clear on Aro's face, as if he'd eaten a lemon but was trying to keep his composure. The other Volturi seem either scared by what Aro might do, or entertained by what he'll do to me. On second thought, my refusal may get me killed. That doesn't change the fact that I'm not letting that guy touch me.

"Bella, perhaps-" Edward begins, reaching his hand out to me. I turn on him.

"What happened to _ask her?_ My decision not good enough for you?" I ask. Some vampires behind us snicker.

"Looks like Edward hasn't tamed his human very well," one of the vampires says. I spin around any try to pinpoint who it was.

"Really, my dear. I must ask you to reconsider," Aro says, a smug smile on his face. "We wouldn't want anything _drastic _to occur."

"No. That is my final answer." I say. There's a moment of deadly silence before Aro says, "Jane, perhaps you can help convince her?"

"Gladly," Jane says. I raise my eyebrow at the little girl. Sure, she has horrifying blood-red eyes but she's also, like, twelve. What's she gonna do? Kick my shins?

She glares at me. I wait for something to happen, but before anything can happen, Edward jumps in front of me. Alice yells and tries to run forward, but Jacob holds her back. I'm confused until Edward falls within Jane's gaze. Immediately, he begins to writhe in pain. He bites his lip in agony, and draws blood. I stare down at him in horror for a moment, while the vampires watch on gleefully. Then I look up at Jane, anger turning my vision red.

"Stop it!" I yell, but she ignores me. Her lips curl into a smile.

"Stop it!" I say, ignored again. The sensible thing would be to stop being so stubborn and just let Aro touch my hand. Unfortunately I'm not a sensible person.

"I said, stop it!" I yell, directing all my fury into shoving Jane to the ground. There's a look of surprise as she tumbles backwards. The room is silent, the other vampires looking equally shocked. Aro just looks amused. I'm pretty sure that's his only expression.

"Bella…" Edward moans from the ground. He's still, but at least not dead.

"Y-you pushed me," Jane says, glaring up at me.

"You were _torturing _him!" I say, trying to understand why I even have to defend myself.

"I'll show you torture," she threatens, her monotone broken. She stands up, but even as she glares at me, we both know that it's not doing anything. Her nostrils flail in frustration.

"What's wrong? You can't do anything worthwhile without your powers?" I ask. As soon as the words leave my lips, she snarls and lunges at me. Her fist slams into my nose. My ears ring and the room spins as I find my balance. I see little blood droplets splatter to the floor. I wipe the blood away from my nose. Then I cough and a tooth comes out. My jaw drops and my hand reaches to the gooey gap in my mouth where a tooth should be.

"It is _on_," I say with a slight lisp and throw the tooth to the ground. I run forward, Jane moves to dodge, but I anticipate it and drive my fist into her cheek. Her head jerks backward. She stumbles a bit before regaining her footing and attacking. She fakes to the right and punches me. Even as I feel my right eye swelling up, I knee her in the gut. Vampires don't breath, but it seems to do something because she falls back.

In the moment, I have a chance to rest. Someone yells my name, and as I turn to see who, I realize the entire room has burst into chaos. I don't know who shot first, but Alice, Jacob, and Edward are all fighting various Volturi. Then I see a number of Volturi looking on as if it was their favorite football team in the playoffs. Among them is Aro.

I begin to march towards the group, when fingernails tear into my hair and drag me backwards. Jane growls viciously as she claws at my face. I grab her hand and twist her arm away from myself. But with her free hand, she smacks me across the face. I let go of her arm and she pounces on me. Her hands wrap around my throat and start to squeeze.

"How are you so strong?" She asks, her hair tumbling across her face. "You can't be human. That's the only explanation."

It sounds like she can't accept that a normal human being was able to land a punch on her. To be fair, she's correct because after everything I've been through I doubt I'd be considered a "normal human being", but I don't really care about that much right now because my vision is becoming hazy. I rake her arms with my nails, trying desperately to find air. She just smiles down at me, and for a moment her face morphs into Clove's from the Hunger Games. They have the same bloodlust in their eyes.

But unlike the Hunger Games, I don't think I can get out of this one. The edges of my vision begin to fade to black. The energy in my arms is slowly draining and I know I can't hold on for much longer. The worst part is that deep down, I know it's my own fault for going too far, pushing the story, and myself I suppose, too far.

"I will enjoy feasting on your blood," Jane muses, "and sucking out your puny little life."

She bares her fangs, and I feel like an idiot as I suddenly remember what she just said. I'm not a normal human. My eyebrows press together as I use my remaining energy to unfurl my wings. It's just enough force to throw Jane off, although her bewilderment helps a bit too. She scrambles back in confusion and horror.

"What _are _you?" She gasps.

"An angel," Edward whispers, somehow finding a moment in the middle of a fight to gawk at the wings and give me a weird compliment.

"I'm actually not," I say. "But…thanks?"

"Please don't hurt me," Jane begs, her eyes round with fear. I pause and look around. The Volturi are waiting expectantly for me to kill her. And in a way, I suppose that would be the "right thing" to do. But somehow, just seeing her so powerless and remorseful, that feels wrong. I shake my head.

"I'll do it for you, Bella." Edward offers. I frown at him.

"No, I don't think we should at all." I say. "She was once human, and maybe…if she wants to, she could be like you."

"She'd never be like me," Edward hisses. "She's Volturi, bloodthirsty, and look what's she's done to your face!"

It's true, the swelling on my face makes it impossible to see out of my right eye. Even so, I know I can't do it.

"I believe she can change," I say. "She doesn't have to be trapped within the author's storyline!"

"What?" Edward asks, honestly confused. Jane looks between us, equally confused

"That was a…metaphor." I say. "For the human condition?"

Edward tilts his head at me, still lost. He narrows his eyes as if that would give him focus to understand. I open my mouth to explain further, when I notice that he's looking _beyond _me. My muscles freeze and I suck my breath in quickly. Still holding my breath, I whip around to meet face-to-face with an Editor who's smiling a wolfish grin.

As I bend my knees to spring into flight, he stabs me with the staff in his hand. It sends a shock of electricity through my body, starting from my chest and causing my hair to stand up. My muscles seize painfully. They feel so tight, I'm sure they're about to snap. My wings twitch as I tilt backwards. I'm unable to stop myself because my muscles are frozen.

I hear a sickening crack as my head meets the ground. From some far-off place, I can hear laughter but I don't know if it's the Volturi or the Editors or both, just mocking my helplessness. My head feels like it's filled with Jell-O though. I can't think straight enough to care.

As blackness folds over my vision, I think I faintly hear Edward or Alice yelling something but their words fade before my injured brain can process them.


End file.
